PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester field hockey team blanked visiting Vassar College 2-0 on Friday evening at Fauver Stadium in the semifinals of the Liberty League Tournament.
 
Rochester, the tournament's top seed, now moves on to the final against 3rd-seeded William Smith on Sunday at noon, hosted on the River Campus at Fauver Stadium.
 
UR tallied goals in each half, with first-year Maeve Fogarty and junior Delainey Hebble recording the scores. Zoe Conomikes assisted on both goals, with Kara Houston continuing her shutout streak, making eight saves in goal for the Yellowjackets (16-4).
 
Vassar (13-6) managed to hold a 13-5 edge in shots and took a whopping 15 corners in the game, 11 more than Rochester's total.
 
Both teams eased into the contest on Friday, with only one shot being taken in the first quarter. The shot was a deflection of a Lesley Leatherman attempt by Anya Arseneau which bounced into the pads of Vassar keeper Sara Dumaresq.
 
Play opened up in the second, with Vassar earning a pair of corners and two shots on goal in the first two minutes. Back-to-back chances from Maggie Werner and Avery Bauman were saved by Houston, keeping the game scoreless.
 

Rochester grabbed the lead just over a minute later, with Fogarty perfectly deflecting in a hard shot form the wing by Conomikes. The play started with a Mara Heppard insert to the top of the circle where Karina Bridger slipped the pass out wide to Conomikes. The hard blast sailed between the legs of multiple players and right to Fogarty who was camped at the right post for the deflection into the cage.
 
At the end of the half, the Brewers kept the offensive pressure on, but Houston denied Bauman and an Ella Pearl shot was blocked away by the Yellowjacket back line.
 
During the third, Vassar earned five straight penalty corners in the 35th and 36th minute. Rochester's defense withstood the onslaught, with shots from Vassar's leading scorers Gianna Trunfio and Hailey Brigger getting blocked and another attempt from Pearl that was saved.
 
At the 40-minute mark, UR earned a corner and Conomikes was looking for a goal, ripping a hard shot from the circle, but Dumaresq turned away the try, UR's lone attempt of the quarter.
 
The lead doubled early in the fourth quarter on a terrific goal from Hebble. Conomikes dribbled in from the right side following a free hit and sent a cross in front to Hebble who slapped a one-timer from six yards into the bottom left corner of the cage.
 
Sensing the window to come back was slipping away, Vassar continued to force things on the offensive end, answering UR's second goal with a stretch of two minutes where the Brewers had a trio of corners and four shots which were denied by Houston or sailed wide.
 
Rochester settled in on defense the rest of the way, not allowing a Brewer shot or corner over the final ten minutes, earning the trip to the league finals.
 
The Yellowjackets earned a spot in the programs seventh Liberty League Tournament Final in the last ten seasons. UR claimed conference titles, the first two in team history in 2017 and 2019.