University of Rochester Athletics

The University of Rochester scored an early goal in each half and stifled visiting Houghton College defensively in a 2-0 field hockey victory on Tuesday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
Nancy Bansbach and Claire Dickerson scored the goals for the Yellowjackets (9-3) while Kate Kujawa made her first career start and earned the win in the cage, making one save on the night.  The loss drops Houghton to under .500 at 6-7 on the year.
 
The Yellowjackets notched the first tally of the game at the 6:35 mark of the first half.  Senior Olivia Denny picked up the ball in a scramble in close to the cage, dumped a pass out front to Bansbach who scooped the ball past Houghton goalkeeper Elizabeth Piszker for the 1-0 lead.
 
Three and a half minutes earlier, Bansbach was denied a goal when she tipped in a Maya Haigis penalty corner shot, only to see it get cleared off the line by the Highlanders Ashley Hughes for a defensive save.
 

With just under four minutes to go in the first half, Haigis rifled a shot from the left wing off one of UR's five first half penalty corners, hitting the left post and deflecting away, sending Rochester into halftime with only a 1-0 lead.
 
To start the second half, it was nearly an identical situation that led to the second Yellowjacket goal.  Haigis again ripped a hard blast from the left wing which found the left post, deflecting to her teammate Denny in close on the right side.  Denny then dribbled to the right endline, sent a cross in front to Dickerson who tapped in the goal.  It was the seniors team leading 13th goal of the season.
 
UR's Courtney Dunham nearly made it 3-0 in the 58th minute, but her lifted shot from 10 yards out was swatted away by Piszker in the Houghton goal.
 
Rochester's defense clamped down all game on the Highlanders, holding the visitors to just one shot and zero penalty corners in the contest, with much of the credit going to the backline defenders of Dunham, Kate Tiffany and Samantha Dow, along with Colleen Maillie and Miranda Lakis in the midfield.
 
The Yellowjackets now begin a four-game Liberty League stretch, beginning with a trip to Ithaca on Friday at 4 pm, before returning to Fauver Stadium on Sunday to host Union on Senior Day.