SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Host and 3rd-seeded Skidmore College narrowly defeated the 4th-seeded University of Rochester by a 2-1 score to capture the Liberty League Field Hockey Championship on Saturday afternoon at Wagner Park.
 
The Thoroughbreds (15-5), ranked #17 in the latest NFHCA Coaches Poll, captured their 10th Liberty League title and their third in the last four seasons.  Rochester (17-4), ranked #15 in the latest Division III poll, was defeated in the conference title game for the second straight season and third time in five years.
 
It was a sluggish first half for Rochester, as the Yellowjackets could only muster one shot attempt, that courtesy of senior Sayaka Abe in the 13th minute, coming off a UR penalty corner.  Her shot sailed wide.
 
Skidmore would then open the scoring with a goal just before halftime.  Kayla Rose would score her fifth tally of the year when she slapped in a pass from teammate Kelsey Denby.  Denby received the ball after Gabby Hyman had her initial shot blocked by the 'Jacket defense.
 

At the break, Skidmore held a 1-0 lead and took five of the six shots in the period.
 
The second half played as the reverse, with UR holding a 7-2 edge in shots and 6-2 advantage in corners, ending the game leading 8-7 in shots and 8-3 in PC's.
 
Fifteen and a half minutes into the second half, Skidmore would boost its lead to 2-0 when Hyman beat second half goalkeeper Kiran Sundaram on the high side off a pass from teammate Miranda Davenport.   
 
After the goal, Rochester applied tremendous offensive pressure, looking to get back in the game.  The Yellowjackets did just that at the 60:29 mark when Abe juked two Thoroughbred defenders following a penalty corner and went high in the cage for her second goal of the year.  The score came after a flurry of chances inside the circle which included shots from Abe and Callie Fisher which were saved by goalkeeper Elizabeth Coughlin.
 
With under five minutes to play, Rochester earned a penalty corner and nearly scored the equalizer, but Maya Haigis' shot was cleared off the line by Becca Halter for a defensive save.
 
In the goals, Gabrielle Cantley played the first half for Rochester and made one save.  Sundaram did not make a save in the second half while Coughlin finished with three stops for Skidmore.
 
The trio of Abe, Haigis and Alexis Wood were selected to the All-Tournament team for the Liberty League Championships.  Rochester must now wait and see if its body of work this season is strong enough to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.  Skidmore earns the conference's automatic berth into NCAA's.