ITHACA, NY - Seniors Claire Dickerson and Olivia Denny each scored two goals apiece to lead the #19 University of Rochester field hockey team to a 4-0 victory over Ithaca College on Friday evening at Higgins Stadium.
 
Rochester with the win moves to 10-3 overall, its 14th straight 10+ win season, and is now 4-0 in the conference while Ithaca drops to 6-6 and is 1-3 in the Liberty League.  The meeting was the first ever for the two schools in Liberty League play as 2017 is the first year the Bombers are a conference member.
 
The Yellowjackets dominated play, holding an 18-3 edge in shots and 7-2 advantage in penalty corners.
 
Dickerson netted the opening goal of the contest, which proved to be her seventh game-winning goal of the season, at the 11:19 mark of the first half.  She gathered up a rebound off a penalty corner shot from teammate Colleen Maillie and as she was running away from the goal, turned and took a hard shot which found the woodwork for a 1-0 UR lead.
 
At the 19:00 minute mark, Maillie nearly made it 2-0 in favor of the visiting Yellowjackets, but her shot from the top of the circle that trickled into the cage was deflected in off a UR leg and did not count.
 
At 26:04, Dickerson would score again, chipping in a backhand shot over the Ithaca goalkeepers pad.  Lauren Sharpe picked up an assist on the play, sliding the ball into the circle with a long pass from the right wing.
 
The UR senior nearly had a third first half goal, after she was one-on-one with a Bomber defender in behind IC keeper Savanna Lenker, but the Ithaca defender blocked the attempt with her foot, leading to a Rochester penalty corner.
 

Just over 10 minutes into the second half, the Yellowjackets boosted the lead the 3-0.  On a penalty corner, UR passed the ball nearly completely around the circle, with Denny inserting to Maya Haigis who slid the ball across to the right wing to Courtney Dunham.  Dunham took a shot on goal that was tipped in the air by Emma Schlechter at the goal mouth and Denny was in the right place at the right time, slapping the ball out of the air into the goal for her fourth tally of the season.
 
In the 55th minute, Lenker made two strong saves keeping the score 3-0.  The first came on a Maillie shot from 10 yards out off a nice drop pass from Amanda Guido, and the second came on a Dunham shot off a PC, with Lenker making a sprawling kick save.
 
At 58:18, Dickerson again was denied her third score of the game, when Lenker dove to recover and make a stick save, stopping the UR senior after she dribbled around her about three yards off the goal line.
 
The final tally of the contest came off another rebound in the 63rd minute when Denny found the cage camped at the far post, shooting in a rebound which initially came off the stick of Nancy Bansbach from the right wing.
 
Overall in goal, the UR defense was strong, only allowing Ithaca to one shot on goal which was saved by starter Gabrielle Cantley who picked up the win.  Kiran Sundaram played the second half for the 'Jackets and did not have to make a save.  Ithaca's Lenker made six saves in playing 62:25 while reliever Ariyahna Bernard made two stops over the final seven minutes.
 
The Yellowjackets return home on Sunday afternoon for a 4 pm game against Union College, looking to stay perfect in conference play.