FAUVER STADIUM – The 13th ranked University of Rochester held off a scrappy Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute squad by a 2-1 score in a Liberty League field hockey match on Friday afternoon.
 
The victory is UR's second in four days over a conference opponent and moves the Yellowjackets to 12-2 overall and 3-1 in the Liberty League.  RPI meanwhile drops to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play so far this season.
 
During the opening 35 minutes, it was nearly all Rochester, with the home Yellowjackets holding a 9-0 edge in shots, but some strong RPI defense kept the Engineers in the contest.
 
Nearly nine minutes into the game, Rochester earned a penalty corner which saw freshman Maya Haigis fire a hard shot which trickled past RPI goalkeeper Rachel Kaufman but was swiped off the line for a defensive save by Lauren Hiltz.
 
Just over ten minutes later, RPI's Mac Reininger made another defensive save, this time on UR's Callie Fisher after she was able to dribble into the circle and slip a shot behind the goalie.
 
In the 24th minute, both Fisher and Haigis had back-to-back opportunities inside the circle, both of which were stopped by Kaufman.  The sophomore keeper for RPI ended the game with 11 saves.
 

Early in the second period, UR's Samantha Dow saw a point blank chance swatted away by the stick of Kaufman, keeping the Yellowjackets off the board.  11 minutes into the half, Hiltz made her second defensive save of the game, clearing an Emma Schlechter tipped shot off of the line.
 
After being held out of the shot column in the first half, RPI was the first to find the back of the net, recording a goal at 53:16 on its first attempt of the game.  Mikaela DiBello was the recipient of a deflected pass off of a UR defender, getting the ball on her stick inside the circle and slipping it in between the legs of Rochester goalkeeper Kiran Sundaram.
 
The Yellowjackets responded shortly after, with Haigis blasting a low bullet shot off a penalty corner to the bottom right corner of the cage.  The goal was her sixth of the season and came on the heels of a strong game on Tuesday against William Smith where she scored two goals.  Sayaka Abe picked up the assist on the play.
 
UR nearly made it 2-1 in the 60th minute, but another Fisher shot was cleared away by Kate Batzinger after Kaufman came way out of the net in an attempt to break up the play.
 
Rensselaer made a strong attempt at grabbing the lead back a minute later, but DiBello's second shot of the game was saved by a sprawling Sundaram in the UR cage.
 
With under seven minutes remaining in the game, Rochester would then score the game winner off a tip-in from junior Claire Dickerson.  Dickerson, who was camped in front of the cage during a penalty corner, edged a shot by teammate Colleen Maillie into the cage for her seventh score of the year.
 
Overall in the game, the Yellowjackets would outshoot RPI 23-2 and take 14 corners to just two for the Engineers.  UR's Gabrielle Cantley started in goal and did not make a save in the first half while Sundaram finished with one save in playing the second half.
 
Rochester will return to action on Sunday at 5 pm with a non-conference matchup with Elmira at Fauver Stadium.