CHICAGO, IL – The 18th-ranked University of Rochester women's soccer team dropped its University Athletic Association conference opener 3-0 to the 3rd-ranked University of Chicago on Saturday afternoon at UC's Stagg Field.
The loss drops Rochester to 5-3-1 on the year and 0-1-0 in the UAA while the Maroons improve to 8-1-1 and 1-0-0 in the conference.
Rochester provided the games first solid scoring chance, when
Jorie Freitag sent a cross from in deep along the right side in front to a teammate, but
Cesca Sheppard couldn't control the pass at the far post and it was cleared away by the Chicago defense.
Within the next minute, a great defensive play by the Yellowjackets
Kailee Sowers kept the game scoreless. After a Chicago corner kick, a header attempt got sent high towards the left post where the UR defender was waiting. It found the foot of UC's Adrianna Vera first, but Sowers was in the right position save the ball from sneaking into the net.
Chicago was able to then get on the board first in the 25th minute with a goal from Nicole Willing. Sydney Mathis started the play by sending a long, high arching shot in from 30 yards out which hit the crossbar, just out of the reach of a jumping
Emma Schechter in the UR net who saw her momentum carry her down to the ground. The ball hitting the bar deflected right out to Willing who was there to clean up the ball and score into the open net.
Late in the opening half, Rochester's
Carolyn Richards was a key player in two excellent Yellowjacket scoring opportunities. At 41:35, Richards juked her defender along the left wing, dribbled into about 10 yards out and sent a shot which struck the underside of the cross bar and out to safety.
Two minutes later, the first-year sent a beautiful slip pass into the box towards
Margaret Lee, but Lee's shot attempt from inside the box was broken up right away by the Maroon defense.
In the second half,
Kerri Eden had a nice chance in the 55th minute for Rochester. The UR senior had settled a high ball pass from teammate
Emily Henry at the edge of the box and fired a shot on net, but Chicago keeper Katie Donovan, who had just entered the game at halftime, was there for the save.
Chicago countered within the next minute. The Maroons' Katie Jasminski maintained possession along the right sideline and sent a cross into Vera who saw her one-timer shot from eight yards kicked away by Schechter in the UR goal.
Schechter made another remarkable save in the 72nd minute, denying Claudia Hodgetts a goal with a sprawling save, tipping her shot from 20 yards out over the crossbar for a corner kick.
The Maroons did add to their lead in the 76th minute though, with Jenna McKinney finding the net off a shot which deflected in off the post.
UR's Freitag slipped a nice pass up to a charging Eden in the 81st minute for Rochester's final scoring effort of the game. But Donovan who had left her endline position, coming out 15 yards out, broke up the attempt before Eden could maneuver around her towards the open net.
Chicago's Nicole Kaspi finished up the scoring in the 83rd minute, when she dribbled in deep along the left endline and saw her deflected pass attempt chip off a Yellowjacket defender into the net for the 3-0 lead.
Overall in the game, Schechter finished with four saves for the Yellowjackets in the losing effort.
Samantha Hlavac played the final four minutes and did not face a shot. Miranda Malone started in goal for UC and did not have to make a save, while Donovan played the second half and made two stops.
Chicago held a 13-5 advantage in shots and took seven corners to Rochester's three in the game.
Rochester returns to action on Tuesday evening, hosting St. John Fisher College in a 7 pm matchup at Fauver Stadium.
