PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – It was a very even matchup between a pair of top-25 foes on Sunday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium, with 4th-ranked Salisbury University edging 21st-ranked University of Rochester 1-0 in non-conference Division III field hockey action.
 
The Seagulls (5-2) got a goal late in the third quarter from Olivia Twilley off a pass from McKenna Horner for the lone score of the contest.
 
Both goalkeepers were terrific in the cages, with Rochester's Kara Houston stopping nine shots and Salisbury's Addy O'Connell making 11 saves.
 
The stats were nearly identical across the board, with Salisbury edging Rochester 18-17 in shots. Rochester (3-3) put 12 shots on goal to the Seagulls 10 and had the same margin in corners, leading 12-10.
 
In the first quarter, Salisbury earned the first penalty corner of the game, just 44 seconds in, but Rochester defended it away without surrendering a shot.
 
UR's first attempts at goal came in the fourth minute, when Maeve Fogarty had her shot blocked and Zoe Conomikes unleashed a backhand from the left wing that sailed high.
 
Eight minutes in, Houston was tested for the first time on a hard hit from inside the circle from Marli McDorman. UR's sophomore keeper got a clean look and kicked the ball away to safety.
 
Late in the second quarter, Rochester earned a penalty corner and got three shots off in a scramble at the goal mouth, but O'Connell stopped two attempts from Fogarty and a third from Bella Militi, keeping the game scoreless heading to intermission.
 
Rochester's transition offense led to a scoring opportunity in the 41st minute, when Conomikes dribbled up the right sideline and sent a cross into the circle to Fogarty who hit a one-timed shot at goal. On the ensuing corner after a save, Jessica Unkel laced a hard edge of circle shot that was kicked away by O'Connell in goal.
 
At the other end of the field, Salisbury broke through for the only score of the game at 42:30. Horner gained possession and dribbled up the right side, unleashing a hard hit into the circle. The pass was slowed by a Yellowjacket defender inside but ended up right on the stick of Twilley who one-timed the shot into the left side of the cage.
 
After the goal, Conomikes sent another cross in front that was deflected towards the cage by Delainey Hebble, but the Seagull defense blocked it away. A penalty corner followed, with Conomikes taking one of her team-high six shots, a sweep shot that was stopped at the left post by a lunging O'Connell.
 
In the fourth, Salisbury was issued a green card early and Rochester used the extra player to its advantage, earning a pair of penalty corners in the opening two minutes. But the Yellowjackets could only muster one shot on the two chances, a Conomikes shot that was saved.
 
Five and a half minutes into the fourth, UR's best chance of the game came off the stick of Militi, but after the senior attacker slipped her shot around O'Connell, defender Hannah Johnson made a heads up play, clearing the ball off the line for a defensive save.
 
UR had three more corners the rest of the way, but shots from Anya Arseneau and Unkel were saved away, keeping the Seagulls in front.
 
Rochester's next game is the Liberty League conference opener on the road at William Smith College. The contest is set for Wednesday, starting at 7 pm.