ITHACA, NY – The University of Rochester field hockey team saw its season conclude in heartbreaking fashion, falling to top-seeded Ithaca College 2-1 in double overtime during the semifinals of the Liberty League Tournament on Wednesday evening at Higgins Stadium.
 
Rochester finishes its 2021 campaign with a 12-7 record, with all seven losses on the year coming by a one-goal margin. Ithaca (14-4) moves on to the Liberty League title game and will host second-seeded Vassar College on Saturday for the right to earn the conference automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Ithaca's game-winning goal came from first-year Natalie Descalso in the 75th minute of the contest. Descalso won a 1-on-1 battle with her defender, slipped the ball to her right side and found the net inside the left post with her shot while falling to the turf. It was her second score of the season, with teammate Morgan Mullen earning an assist on the play, tapping the ball back to her while the UR defender slipped and fell on the slick field.
 
The Yellowjackets goal came from senior attacker Amanda Strenk in the tenth minute. Strenk recorded her 23rd of the season directly off a corner pass from Vivienne Tucker, set a new single-season Rochester record for goals in a season. The score broke her first place tie with Michelle Relin from the 2015 season and also put Strenk at 48 points for the year, ranking second all-time in a single year in school history.
 
For her career, Strenk ends with 98 points, two shy of becoming only the fifth player in team history to eclipse the 100-point plateau.
 
It was a very defensive minded opening quarter, with both teams earning just one shot attempt.
 
Ithaca's best chance in the opening half came late in the second quarter when Samantha Horowitz had a one-timer shot from six yards kicked away by UR keeper Abigail Walrond.
 
In the waning seconds of the period, Horowitz again had another good scoring opportunity, but her backhand shot just sailed wide of the post, sending Rochester into intermission with a 1-0 lead.
 

Rochester's defense continued its strong play in the third quarter, limiting the Bombers to just two shots on goal. The back line consisted of Tucker, Mara Heppard, Lesley Leatherman and Delainey Hebble, with that group consistently jumping into the action, intercepting passes and completing tackles to gain back possession for the Yellowjackets.
 
Right off the push off of the second half, Rochester's Leona Fisher earned a golden chance in close on the left wing. Fisher couldn't get a full stick on the ball, sending a dribbler towards net which was kicked away by Ithaca keeper Macy Brandwein.
 
Julia McDonough had back-to-back chances in close in the 37th minute, trying to add an insurance goal for Rochester, but Brandwein hugged the right post and turned away both shot attempts.
 
With the clock turning to the fourth quarter, Ithaca began to up its offensive pressure and maintained a lot of possession in the Rochester end of the field.
 
The Bombers earned a penalty corner in the 53rd minute, but the sweep shot of Victoria Sestito was kicked away by Walrond.
 
A minute later off of another Ithaca corner, a flurry in the goal mouth led to a number of shots for the Bombers. Natalie Descalso's attempt was blocked with a follow-up by Amberly Christiansen cleared off the goal line by Heppard for a defensive save. A third attempt was ruled covered by the defense illegally, leading to a penalty stroke for Ithaca.
 
Ithaca's leading scorer Mullen stepped to the dot and deposited her shot into the cage on the right side, tying the score at 1-1 with a little over five minutes remaining.
 
Neither team could generate a shot over the final minutes, sending the game into overtime.
 
The first extra session was more back-and-forth, as expected with only 6-on-6 in the field as opposed to the full set of players. Ithaca had two shots in the first OT, with UR generating one chance, all of which were saved by the keepers.
 
UR earned the second overtimes only penalty corner in the 72nd minute, and it was Strenk again taking the shot, a similar attempt to her goal scoring shot in the opening period. This time, Brandwein had a clean look at it and was able to stick her pad on it for the save.
 
Three minutes later, Ithaca finished it Descalso's goal.
 
For the game, Walrond finished with six saves for Rochester, while Brandwein earned five saves for the Bombers.