CANTON, NY – A strong effort from goalkeeper Kate Kujawa, making a career-high 16 saves, lifted the University of Rochester field hockey team to a 3-1 Liberty League conference victory over St. Lawrence University at North Country Field on Sunday afternoon.
 
Kujawa was pelted with 26 shot attempts, 18 on goal, but made her 16 saves which cleared her previous single-game best by five from earlier this season.
 
Rochester (7-4, 2-0 Liberty League) got two goals from Amanda Strenk and another from Catherine Hauser, all coming in the first half and then held onto a scrappy Saints attack in the second half.  UR's Colleen Maillie and Maya Haigis each picked up assists on the day.
 
St. Lawrence falls to 3-8 on the season and is 0-2 in the conference.
 
The Yellowjackets struck first on the first shot attempt of the game for either side, coming in the fifth minute.  Maillie gained possession along the right side of the field, dribbled into the circle and sent a cross in front to Strenk.  The UR sophomore then gathered the pass and flicked a backhand shot to the low right corner of the net for the early 1-0 lead.
 
Kujawa's first save of the game was a good one, as a good SLU forecheck forced a turnover and led to a semi-breakaway by Mckenzie Haberl.  Haberl's chance was broken up though when Kujawa sprinted off her endline disrupting any shooting angle.
 
Late in the opening quarter, UR's Juney Lee had a follow-up chance off a Haigis PC shot, but St. Lawrence defender Jackie Reiss was in the right position defensively for a save off the line.
 

To open the second quarter, Rochester applied pressure, earning two penalty corners in the opening minute.
 
Just 2:37 into the quarter, Strenk recorded her second score of the game to boost UR's lead to 2-0.  She picked up a loose ball after a pass from Haigis along the right side.  Strenk, in a similar fashion to her first goal, then slid the shot just to the right of St. Lawrence keeper Sydney Giacin and into the cage.
 
Two minutes later, it was 3-0 UR after Hauser capitalized on a scrum in front of the Saints net, slipping a shot through the legs and sticks of the defense for her eighth goal of the year.
 
St. Lawrence looked to get back into it with a flurry of shots and corners in the 27th and 28th minutes.  Rochester's defense held strong, fending off the five corners over the two minute span.
 
In the final minute of the half, Rochester's Amanda Guido and Karina Bridger had solid scoring chances in close to the Saints net, but neither could increase the Yellowjacket lead.
 
St. Lawrence provided the first strong opportunity in the opening minute of the second half, but Haberl's center circle shot from six yards out was denied by Kujawa after a pad save.
 
The host Saints finally broke through in the 44th minute.  After another flurry of six shots and four PC chances in two minutes, SLU's Jenny L'Hommedieu slapped in a rebound, her first of the season to cut the lead to 3-1.
 
Neither team could find the back of the net in the fourth quarter, but with no shortage of chances.  At 49:10, Hauser and Maillie displayed a nice give-and-go play, but Giacin made a nice save on Maillie's shot from eight yards.
 
Four minutes later, Anna Park of St. Lawrence provided another defensive save, denying Lee of a goal in close.
 
Meanwhile, Kujawa finished the quarter with another save on Haberl in the 58th minute pushing her total to the career high.  Defender Ava Schwartz also picked up a defensive save in the closing minutes.
 
Rochester looks to push its win streak to five games when they play another road game at Brockport on Tuesday evening in another road contest.