Rochester held off a determined and nationally-ranked Case Western Reserve team at Fauver Stadium to tie for the UAA men's soccer title.
The Yellowjackets jumped in front, 2-0, got it back to a two-goal lead after Case pulled one back, then pieced together a solid last seven minutes as the Spartans put on a frantic push when the score was 3-2.
With the victory, Rochester finished 6-1 in the UAA, tied with Emory University for the crown. The Eagles lost to Carnegie Mellon earlier in the day. Rochester is 13-2-2 overall. Emory will be the UAA's Pool A (automatic bid) participant in the NCAA playoff field on the basis of a 1-0 win over the Yellowjackets two weeks ago.
Rochester played hard and well against a very determined foe. The Spartans came into the game red-hot, winning four straight games via shutout (including 5-0 and 4-0 win over Chicago and Washington a week ago). Case is ranked 16th in the current Division III poll and second in the Central Region by the NSCAA.
In contrast, Rochester is ranked 10th in the national poll and second in the Northeast Region by the NSCAA.
The Yellowjackets broke through in the sixth minute of the match. Dominic Pellingra played a corner kick out of the right (attacking) corner to the back post. Sean Hantes headed it towards net and Case keeper Konrad Karasek parried it briefly. The ball struck the ground and in the ensuing scramble, Misha-Carrel Thomas poked it into goal, just a step ahead of teammate Steve Welles.
Fifteen minutes later, the Yellowjackets made it 2-0 with a bang-bang play. Jake Cargill carried the ball down the left sideline. He crossed it into the penalty area to a wide-open J.J. Dennstedt. He controlled the pass, spun and struck the ball into the top right hand corner, giving Karasek no chance.
Case threatened over the last 17 minutes and had three good chances to get on the board, one of which the Spartans converted. With 17 minutes left, Jordan Fox spun at the top of the area and shot low for the center, but Rochester goalkeeper Michael Peacock got down to grab it.
With just under nine minutes left in the half, Ryan Michols crossed the ball from left wing to R.J. French streaking down the middle. French headed the ball wide of the left post.
French did get the Spartans on the board before halftime. At 38:34, he took a free kick from just to the left of the penalty arc and drove it into the far right corner, beyond the reach of Peacock.
The Spartans used their counter-attacking skills and quickness to challenge twice in the first 18 minutes of the second half. Six minutes in, a long ball from right wing found Vinny Bell at the back post. His header was saved by Peacock. With just over 27 minutes to play, Case threw the ball long down the left wing to Matt Paglia who sped past defenders and whistled a ball through the box, looking for Phil DeBauche on the right doorstep. The cross was knocked away for a corner kick.
Rochester broke through for its third goal with some quickness of its own. The ball found its way upfield to Scott Cady. He carried it up the middle, then pushed a pass out on the left wing to Josh Richards who broke towards Karasek and right-footed a shot to the low right corner with 64:53 elapsed.
Case did get a goal back at 83:10. Niro Wimalasena chipped it forward and French shot through traffic into the left side of the netting to pull the Spartans within 3-2.
Peacock made three saves for Rochester. Karasek had four saves for the Spartans. The shots were tied at 10-10. Rochester had four corner kicks and Case had two.
