GRANVILLE, OH – Despite trailing heading into the fourth, the University of Rochester field hockey team came back to defeat the Denison University Big Red, 2-1, in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Deeds Field behind a pair of goals from sophomore Grayson Honig.
 
The Yellowjackets outshot the Big Red, 2-0 in the first quarter and 1-0 in the second, but were still scoreless with Denison at the break.
 
Jessica Unkel's early shot off UR's penalty corner was blocked, while Athena Joannou saved Hannah Mehta's 10th-minute shot towards the nearside post.
 
In the second quarter, Mehta had another shot blocked off a penalty corner, and the 'Jackets would head into the locker room scoreless against the Big Red.
 
Following an early penalty corner by UR, the Big Red turned the tide against Rochester, and came up with a trio of shots, the last of which was saved by Kara Houston. Back-to-back shots by Lauren Proicou and Katherine Flanigan were blocked, while Houston saved another from Proicou just seconds later.
 
However, the Big Red were awarded a penalty stroke following the sequence, and Nina Casingal just pushed it past a diving Houston towards the lower-left corner of the goal, giving Denison a 1-0 lead.
 
Rochester quickly looked to counter, with Honig forcing a pair of saves by Joannou over the final six minutes of the third, while Mehta's 44th-minute attempt sailed wide.
 
The Yellowjackets kept the offensive pressure going into the fourth corner, pounding Joannou with a pair of shots following a 49th-minute penalty corner, but the Denison keeper again came up big, saving both Kristina Fedorova and Maya Ullrich's shots.
 
Finally, though in the 53rd minute, Honig made her way through the Big Red defense and beat Joannou for the score, leveling the game at one-all.
 
Rochester then nearly won it in regulation, with Anya Arseneau forcing another save in the 56th minute while Mehta's attempt just seconds later was stopped by Helen Breen to earn a defensive save.
 
The two sides headed to overtime, where it wouldn't take long for Rochester to pull out the victory. UR earned a penalty corner just under three minutes in, passing it around to Arseneau. The junior pushed it toward goal after a bounce off Mehta's stick towards Honig, and the sophomore beat Joannou to the lower-right corner, winning it for the Yellowjackets.
 
Rochester remains unbeaten at 3-0 with the win, while Denison drops to 0-3 with the loss.
 
Honig led UR with two goals on four shots, all of which were on goal, while Mehta tallied an assist and four shots. Houston allowed just one goal and made a save, playing just under 63 minutes in goal.
 
Rochester will wrap up its two-game, Ohio road trip with a matchup against Kenyon College on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 11:00 a.m. in Gambier, OH.