ONEONTA, NY – The University of Rochester field hockey team got two second half goals and held host Oneonta without a shot over the final 30 minutes, earning a 2-0 shutout victory on Saturday afternoon at Ononeta's All College Field.
 
The Yellowjacket goal scorers were Nikki Mercer and Amanda Strenk while Abigail Walrond got credit for the shutout in goal, making three saves. Additionally, Elisabeth Sidorski and Grace Crochiere each contributed to the shutout with a defensive save in the first half.
 
Rochester's win pushes the teams record to 3-1 on the season, while Oneonta drops to 1-3.
 
The first half was a bit sluggish for the Yellowjackets, with the visitors being held to just two shot attempts, compared to Oneonta's six.
 
In the third minute, the Red Dragons had a flurry of chances, with back-to-back shots by Alexa Ryan and Emily Raymond kicked away by Walrond. After the two shots, Oneonta earned one of its six penalty corners, but nothing came of that opportunity.
 
Two minutes later, Oneonta's Ryan was denied by Crochiere's defensive save, keeping the game scoreless.
 
UR's first corner of the contest came in the 13th minute, as the set piece led to a Jessica Unkel shot, which was saved by Ononeta keeper Jennifer Tumino.
 
One minute into the second, Oneonta earned a penalty corner and saw Raymond's shot swept off the line by Sidorski on defense, keeping the game tied at 0-0.
 
A minute later, Strenk recorded her first shot of the contest, but saw it swatted away by Tumino in the Red Dragon cage.
 
Oneonta earned the first penalty corner of the second half in the 39th minute, but that was all the offense the Red Dragons could muster in the final 30 minutes, as no other shots or corners were allowed by the solid UR defensive effort.
 
UR's first goal came with just 62 seconds left in the third. Mercer corralled a pass from Karina Bridger about 7 yards inside the circle and took a bouncing shot which slipped by the keeper. It was Mercer's team leading fourth tally of the season.
 
Back-to-back shot attempts from Delainey Hebble and Vivienne Tucker nearly doubled the lead in the 55th minute, but Tumino was solid and added two saves to her total in the flurry.
 
In the final minute of play, a shot attempt was headed into the net for a goal, but hit an Oneonta defenders body, leading to the awarding of a penalty stroke for Rochester.
 
The UR senior Strenk, stepped up and calmly found the net for an exclamation point in the victory.
 
Rochester's next contest is a home date against Oswego State on Wednesday evening at 5 pm.