SELINSGROVE, PA- In a thrilling shootout after a 1-1 draw, the University of Rochester men's soccer team found a way to win over Misericordia Univeristy in the 1st Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament Saturday at Susquehanna University.
 
Sophomore Jack Thesing scored the game winning shootout goal and senior goalie Scott Garfing made a diving save in the next shootout round to send the Yellowjackets (10-3-4) to the second round of the tournament.  Sophomore Alex Swanger scored the regulation goal for Rochester in the 86th minute to send the game to overtime.
 
Midway through the first half, Thesing nearly notched a goal when a right wing cross pass just missed him sliding toward the open net at the back post.  Shortly after, classmate Swanger broke free off a pass from Max Eberhardt but his chance sailed just wide of the net.
 
Late in the half, UR had another good scoring opening off a corner kick, but Jakob Seidlitz's hard shot was saved by Misericordia keeper Barry Fitzgerald.
 
The Yellowjackets seemed to be in control throughout the second half until the Cougars Dan Pinto found the back of the net at 62:53.  Pinto's shot was a long lofted ball from 25 yards out that floated right over the jumping Garfing into the top right corner of the net.
 
Eberhardt then looked for the equalizer five minutes later, but his shot went high after some nifty ball handling by UR set up the senior.
 
UR kept the pressure on looking for the tying goal and that chance came in the form of a foul and yellow card on Misericordia (12-6-3) at 85:07.  On the ensuing free kick, it was Swanger who fired a hard curving shot that found the upper left corner of the net tying the score at 1-1.
 
At the end of regulation, UR had dominated the stat sheet.  The Yellowjackets outshot the Cougars 17-10, found the net seven times to Misericordia's three and had seven more corners (8-1).
 
In overtime, the physical play continued with bodies flying all over the field.  The game featured 26 fouls and two yellow cards.
 
With 40 seconds to go in overtime one, Thesing nearly sent the teams home, but his header at 99:20 hit the crossbar and deflected away.
 
After neither team generated any quality chances the rest of the way, the shootout was needed to decide a winner.
 
There was a couple of near misses for UR during the first set of five shootout attempts.  On Misericordia's first shooter, Garfing guessed the correct side, but he was unable to completely get in front of the shot by Andy Bush.  The very next shooter, Seidlitz got it past Cougar keeper Barry Fitzgerald, but the shot ricocheted off the cross bar that had denied Thesing earlier.  Thankfully, Garfing was able to save the next Misericordia shot and keep the teams even at one.
 
After each team traded three more goals each, the first set of five shooters ended in a 4-4 tie.  The teams then went to a sudden death format.  It didn't take long as Thesing stepped up and found the back of the net to put UR ahead.  Then on the next shooter, Nick von Egypt, Garfing made a diving save and moved the Yellowjackets on in the tournament.
 
The senior finished with two saves in a victory while Fitzgerald stopped eight UR shots in the loss.

The Yellowjackets next face the winner of the Susquehanna/Cabrini first round match on Sunday at 5 pm.