SALISBURY, MD- The University of Rochester field hockey achieved its biggest win in the program's history when it upended perennial powerhouse Salisbury University 3-2 in the Sweet 16 round of the 2012 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament.
 
Salisbury, a five time national champion was appearing in its 28th NCAA tournament which is second all-time.  This is Rochester's second ever game and first appearance in the big dance.
 
The Sea Gulls (15-3) got on the board early and took the momentum when senior Kristina Fusco slapped home a loose ball in front of UR goalie Madison Wagner at 2:57.  Fusco nearly made it 2-0 at 4:38 but her chance went high after she was set up by some nice moves by teammate Melissa Slocum.
 
The Yelowjackets (18-5) were able to respond at 7:53 when Megan Keil got on the board with a scrappy goal in front of the Sea Gull net.  Junior captain Katie Flaschner dribbled through the defense on the left side and dumped the ball in front where Keil backhanded it past Salisbury keeper Rachel Clewer.
 
45 seconds later, UR's Shelby Hall had a golden opportunity to take the lead but her shot after finding open space in front went wide.  Salisbury's Erica Henderson hit the post shortly after to keep the score tied at one.
 
Rochester was then able to grab the lead in the 19th minute when Flaschner got a score of her own.  The play started on a hard penalty corner shot by Michelle Relin that was stopped by Clewer at the near post.  There, senior Sarah Dixon worked hard to get the ball free and eventually found the captain who was all alone in front to slide the goal home.
 
The Sea Gulls answered right back four minutes later though when off a penalty corner, Summer Washburn had a shot blocked.  The ball then deflected right back to her and she shot again, this time finding the back of the cage.
 
At the half, the Yellowjackets were even in shots on goal at five apiece despite Salisbury holding the advantage in penalty corners and total shots.
 
Early in the second half, UR applied the pressure and was awarded a penalty stroke when a Hall shot was illegally cleared off the line by the Sea Gulls.  The resulting stroke was taken by Allison Resnick was saved by a sprawling Clewer keeping the score level.
 
That missed chance seemed to light a fire under the Sea Gulls as they controlled possession in the Yellowjacket zone for the better part of the next ten minutes before UR Head Coach Wendy Andreatta called a timeout to settle her squad.
 
Rochester then took the lead again with a Relin blast from the top of the circle off a penalty corner in the 50th minute of play.  Dixon provided her second assist of the day on the play.
 
The fourth ranked Sea Gulls kept applying the pressure, but Wagner was tremendous in the Yellowjacket net, thwarting many opportunities from the home team.  Salisbury just missed a tying goal at the 60 minute mark when Henderson hit the post again.  “The game would have had a very different outcome without Madison in goal,” said Andreatta.
 
UR then held possession for the last few minutes and was able to take the game by a 3-2 score to advance to the national quarterfinals.
 
The Sea Gulls held a monster advantage on the stat sheet in the second half firing 15 shots on net, and 30 overall in the period.  They held 13 corners in the half to finish with a 21-5 advantage.  Said Wagner “I feel like I play better when the pressure is on, and the defense played great in front of me to help out.”

Wagner finished with 18 saves on the day, tying a career high while Relin's goal gave her 19 on the year and broke Anna Dobrzynski's school record for single season goals.  For the Sea Gulls, Clewer made five stops in net.
 
“Salisbury is a great team,” said Andreatta, “we really are the Cinderella story in this year's tournament.”
 
With the win, the Yellowjackets move on to the Regional Finals and will face Montclair State, the tournaments #2 seed, in a game at 1 pm.