PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – No. 15 University of Rochester women's soccer fell to the top-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Bears, 2-0, on Sunday at Edwin Fauver Stadium, dropping their final regular-season home contest of the year to the No. 1-ranked Bears, who clinched their second-straight University Athletic Association title with the win.
 
WashU peppered Grace Kuropatkin and the Yellowjacket defense early and often, taking 22 shots total, 11 in each half, 12 of which were on frame. Kuropatkin picked up two early saves on attempts from Sophie Viscovich and Ella Koleno over the first five minutes, but off a corner kick in the seventh minute, the visiting Bears would strike first to take an early lead.
 
Viscovich sent in the corner, WashU's first of 11 on the day, with a low strike, and Grace Ehlert found just enough space to tap it in with her right foot, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
 
Up 1-0, the Bears would look for another, dominating possession for much of the early going, as they held UR without a shot till the 22-minute mark of the first.
 
Kuropatkin made another stop in the eighth minute, again keeping an attempt from Viscovich out of goal, to setup a WashU corner, while the senior keeper upper her tally to five saves just past the 20-minute mark of the first, making another save on Viscovich, while saving a volley from Ally Hackett off a corner kick in the 21st minute.
 
Claire Grover came up with UR's first attempt in the 23rd minute taking advantage of a defensive miscue by the Bears. Natalie Santangelo knocked the giveaway from WashU's defense toward Grover, who dribbled toward goal from the far side. But a sliding save from WashU's Sydney Conner knocked Grover's shot attempt away, setting up UR's first corner.
 
Conner then came up with another save on Remi Cherkas' shot off the corner, one of four shots on goal for Rochester in the first half.
 
The graduate keeper would stop another, this one from Santangelo, in the 32nd minute, before Grover would send another on goal, just past the 35-minute mark, heading a shot off a free kick from Claudia Ferreira, but again, Conner came up with a diving stop to keep WashU in front.
 
Down the stretch of the first half, the Bears again dominated possession, attempting five shots and four corner kicks, looking to add to their tally before the break. However, UR's defense would stop each one, blocking a trio of shots, while Cece Vassallo came up with a tremendous stop in the 42nd minute, tipping a shot from Kaci Karl off the line to earn a team save, after Hackett's header off a corner went off the crossbar.
 
WashU kept up the offensive pressure to start the second half, earning another corner just over two minutes in, but the Yellowjacket defense was again up to the task.
 
UR defender the corner before Kuropatkin came up with another save, this one on Madison Foley's 52nd-minute attempt, while Viscovich's fourth shot of the day less than a minute later gave the Bears another corner.
 
Just shy of the 59th minute, Ehlert put another two shots on target, the first of which Cherkas blocked away, while on the rebound, Kuropatkin notched another save, diving to her left after Ehlert's shot ricocheted off a UR defender.
 
Kuropatkin added another save to her tally, finishing the game with a career-high nine saves, in the 66th minute after Olivia Clemons had a shot on goal after a UR giveaway before the Yellowjackets notched their lone shot of the second half.
 
WashU's defense knocked away a cross from Alyssa Doody, but UR won it back and Natalie Kocsis sent it back in. The Bears again knocked it away, but this time Kocsis one-timed a shot, however, it sailed just a bit high for a goal kick.
 
The Bears though, would break through again in the 79th minute, as Clemons scored off an assist from Cami Colpitts, beating her defender with a shot to the lower left, putting WashU up 2-0 and essentially sealing the victory, as the Bears held UR without a shot the rest of the way.
 
With the win, No. 1 WashU remains unbeaten at 17-0-1 (6-0 UAA) on the year, while the 15th-ranked 'Jackets dropped to 11-3-2 (4-2 UAA) with the loss.
 
Grover led UR offensively with a pair of shots, while Kuropatkin notched a career-high nine saves.
 
The Yellowjackets will wrap up the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 9 with a matchup against the Emory University Eagles in Atlanta, GA at 11:00 a.m.