Nancy Bansbach scored two first half goals and Rochester held steady on the tempo in a 2-0 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Senior Day at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
The Yellowjackets improved their field hockey record to 15-1 overall, 6-1 in the Liberty League. RPI is 5-10 overall, 3-4 in the league. Teams were battling for positioning in the league playoffs. Rochester secured the second seed at 6-1, one game behind top-seeded Vassar. Rochester entered the weekend ranked #6 in the current NFHCA poll.
 
In the other league games on Sunday, Skidmore posted a 1-0 victory at Ithaca College and Vassar defeated William Smith, 2-0. By virtue of its win, Skidmore locked up the third seed and will play Rochester in the semifinals. Vassar will play RPI in the other semifinal. The semis will be played on October 31. The highest surviving seed will host the league championship match on November 3. The Liberty League champion gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
 
Rochester outshot RPI, 20-2, and earned 16 penalty corners. RPI goalie Rachel Kaufman made 13 saves and defender Taylor Clink made two defensive saves. Rochester goalie Kate Kujawa made two saves.
 
Kaufman sprawled, lunged, and batted down a number of Yellowjacket shots from in close. She was beaten on a lifted ball for the first goal, then had Bansbach squeeze one along the endline for a 2-0 lead as the first half wound down.
 
Rochester's six seniors – Bansbach, Courtney Dunham, Miranda Lakis, Jennifer Lee, Lauren Sharpe, and Kate Tiffany – were honored in pre-game ceremonies. They were energized by the ceremony.
 
After Kujawa made two close-in saves deep in the circle in the sixth minute (shots by Jena Dolinar and Kaitlyn Stulen), UR began applying steady pressure. Amanda Strenk forced a Kaufman save in close and three minutes later, Bansbach put Rochester ahead to stay.

Emma Schlechter played a PC out to Bansbach on the left arc of the circle. She lifted a shot from there towards the center of the net. It got above Kaufman's reach and dropped under the crossbar into the cage for a 1-0 lead.
 
With barely nine minutes left in the first half, Bansbach made a long solo run down the left side – more than 40 yards. She reached the endline, dribbled along there, and lined a hard cross through the goalmouth, but the Yellowjackets couldn't get a stick on it.
 
Colleen Maillie nearly doubled the lead in the 30^th minute. She took a long shot just outside the circle that deflected off one of the Engineers. It forced Kaufman to react with a leg-kick save to keep the deficit at 1-0. Kaufman saved a backhanded shot from Maya Haigis from deep on the left side of the circle.
 
Bansbach did get the second goal, running down a long ball from Maille out of the defensive end of the field. She outpaced an Engineer defender to get to it, just before the endline. She dribbled along the right endline. With no one in support from either team, Kaufman charged away from the cage to challenge. Bansbach found just enough room to place the ball between Kaufman and the endline where it rolled just over the line and into the lower left hand corner for a 2-0 lead.
 
Clink's first defensive save of the afternoon came with 20 minutes left. Catherine Hauser tried to capitalize on an open net. She lifted the ball but Clink managed to body-block it away. With four minutes left, she stopped a lifted shot by Kate Tiffany.