Jess Babice scored on a breakaway with 13:30 to play to give Rowan University a 1-0 victory over the University of Rochester in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
The Profs (17-2-1) move into the Sweet 16 round of the tournament at a site to be announced. Rowan will play Ithaca College, which defeated William Smith on penalty kicks. Rochester finishes its season at 13-4-3.
Babice chased a long ball down the right sideline, running with Rochester defender Eileen Boylan. She won the footrace to collect the ball, then turned into the box. As Rochester goalkeeper Celeste Hornbach came off the line, Babice lined a low shot into the far left hand corner of the net.
“I came inside and the goalkeeper came out to cut off the near post,” Babice said, “so I shot for the far post. Once you get in a situation like that with the goalkeeper, it's a matter of where you place the ball.”
She had a chance to stretch the lead with 5:25 left when she broke down the left sideline but shot over the crossbar from 10 yards away.
“I don't think we had our best game,” Babice said. “I don't think we played our game.”
Rowan's defense did well, not giving the Yellowjackets time or space to move offensively. “Coming into the game, we told our team 'Don't get the ball in the air against this team',” said Rowan coach Scott Leacott. “We won't win. In the first half, I kept telling our players keep the ball on the ground.”
With just over 18 minutes left in the first half, Rochester's Bridgette Varin had a shot cleared off the line by Rowan's Christine Foy. Two minutes later, Ellen Coleman's 20-yarder from the right of the arc was saved at the near post by Sarah Volkomer. Rochester's best chance in the first period came in the 40th minute. Kirsten Ross played a corner kick to Jessica Smith in the center of the box. She tipped it to Brittany Huber who couldn't sidewheel it into the net from close range.
“We had a couple of good looks,” said Rochester head coach Terry Gurnett, “but when we created the opportunity, we didn't take the chance.”
“We got the result we wanted,” said Leacott. “I suspected we would be a little flat, coming off the late game last night and hanging around the hotel all day. We didn't play well in the first half.”
In the second half, the Profs stepped up the offensive pressure. Babice shot on the turn at the top of the circle 13 minutes in and Rochester's Stephanie Diebold broke it up. Six minutes later, Hornbach charged out of the goal to get to a ball just ahead of Evynn Wright.
The game was stopped briefly with 20:13 to play so Rowan trainers could attend to Volkomer. She collided with an opponent in the first half. After getting her knee bandaged, she stayed in the game. Two minutes after the Babice goal, Volkomer made a clutch play in the box.
Rochester earned a corner kick. Ross played the ball through the goalmouth to Coleman at the back post. She sent it back in with a pack of Rochester players lurking. Volkomer leapt on it and covered it up before the Yellowjackets could reach it.
This is the first time Rowan has advanced this far in the tournament. “This is our fifth year going to the NCAAs,” Leacott said. “Every year, we're taking another step forward. It's a great feeling. I told the players, 'Soak it in. You never know when you'll get back.'”
