PITTSFORD, NY – 7th-ranked University of Rochester men's soccer took an early lead and held on late to defeat the St. John Fisher University Cardinals, 2-1 on Tuesday evening at Growney Stadium.
 
The Yellowjackets would get things going offensively just under two minutes into the first half, with an early corner kick from Andrew Moglianesi, followed by shots from Ashton Prescott and Othman Belhseine.
 
Avi Lamba found Belhseine with a pass through the box in the sixth minute forcing Fisher's Jadon Schlierf to make the first of his two saves on the night.
 
Just over a minute later, Lamba would again find himself with an opportunity in the box following a poor pass back to the keeper from Fisher's defense. Lamba just got enough on the ball to pass it over to Belhseine, who drew a foul to give Rochester its fifth penalty kick of the year.
 
Santi Ponce Ocampo would take and convert the eight-minute penalty for UR, and just over four minutes later, he'd again score to add to the 'Jackets lead.
 
The Yellowjackets would win the ball back after Tyler Moran's 10th-minute shot went wide and after the ball trickled out of bounds off a Cardinal defender, Ponce Ocampo would get his foot on Kol Bassuk's long throw-in, sending it into the back of the net to make it a 2-0 lead.
 
In the first half, Rochester would outshoot Fisher, 8-0, as they took a 2-0 lead and looked for more before the halftime buzzer.
 
In the 32nd minute, Matt Cosentino found some open space at the top of the box and curled a shot just high, while on Moglianesi's free kick in the 38th minute, Moran sent back a wide shot when the Cardinal's defense couldn't fully clear things out with a header.
 
The 'Jackets would get one last opportunity before the half on a free kick from a dangerous position just above the box, but EliJose Araujo's attempt sailed just high, and UR would go into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
 
St. John Fisher would get their first shot of the contest in the 50th minute, forcing Santino Lupica-Tondo to make a jumping save. But on the ensuing corner kick, Joey Avallove's shot went high, keeping UR out in front by a pair.
 
The Yellowjackets would then get another penalty kick in the 79th minute, looking to put the game out of reach as Moran, wide open in the box, was taken down from behind. But Schlierf's saved Moran's PK to keep UR up by just two and keep things within reach for Fisher.
 
And with just under five minutes to play, St. John Fisher would earn a penalty of their own. Following a back-footed pass by the Cardinals that helped the Fisher attack find some space and earn a PK after a foul in the box, Tim Brown put the PK just out of the reach of Lupica-Tondo to cut Rochester's lead in half, 2-1.
 
The Cardinals would then press offensively, looking for the equalizer, but Rochester would hold Fisher without a shot over the final 4:57 to finish off their second-straight victory.
 
#7 Rochester moves to 5-0-1 with the win, while St. John Fisher falls to 1-4-2 with the loss.
 
Moran and Ponce Ocampo each led UR with three shots, while Lupica-Tondo made one save in goal. As a team, the Yellowjackets outshot Fisher, 10-4, and had five corner kicks to just one for the Cardinals.
 
The Yellowjackets will look to keep rolling when they next host Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.