CORTLAND, NY – The sixth-ranked University of Rochester women's soccer team played the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons to a scoreless draw on Saturday afternoon at Holloway Field.
 
The 'Jackets outshot the Red Dragons, 20-8, but held just a slight edge in shots on goal, 8-7, with both keepers combining for 15 saves.
 
SUNY Cortland put Grace Kuropatkin to work early, with Simone Neivel getting a shot on goal just over a minute into the contest. UR's first shot came just minutes later, as Natalie Santangelo took her first of a game-high eight shots, forcing Kristen Spendal to make her first of eight saves.
 
A corner kick in the 14th minute got Rochester's offense going again, with Santangelo forcing another save, while shots from Maya Bravo and Santangelo were blocked and sailed wide.
 
The Red Dragons again tested Kuropatkin and the 'Jackets' defense in the 32nd minute, forcing UR's senior keeper to make a pair of saves. Emma Frohne took Cortland's first attempt of the sequence just over 31-and-a-half ticks in, while off the ensuing corner, Kuropatkin made another save, this time on Cam Stone's shot on goal.
 
Despite earning two late corners, UR and Cortland headed into the locker room still scoreless at the break, but the 'Jackets turned the pressure up in the second half. After taking seven shots in the first half, compared to just three for the Red Dragons, Rochester outshot SUNY Cortland, 13-5 in the second half as they looked to break the scoreless tie.
 
Early shots by Eileen Harvey and Santangelo were blocked and went wide, while Bravo forced another Spendal save with her 61st-minute attempt.
 
On the other end, Kuropatkin kept things scoreless with a 61st-minute save as well, keeping Tyla Vuotto's shot out of the back of the net, and added two more saves on another attempt from Vuotto and Katie Consenza in the 66th and 68th minutes.
 
But despite nine shots in the final 18 minutes, including three on goal in the final seven, the 'Jackets were unable to push one past Spendal, and similarly, the Red Dragons were unable to solve Kuropatkin and UR's defense.
 
Kuropatkin made one last save in the 82nd minute, before Sydney Holmes and Santangelo combined for three shots on goal in the final seven minutes of action, but Spendal saved all three to send both sides home with a draw. Both No. 6 Rochester and SUNY Cortland move to 2-0-1 with the result
 
Santangelo led both sides with eight shots (four on goal), while Bravo, Coggins and Holmes each added two. In goal, Kuropatkin made seven saves, while Spendal made eight for the Red Dragons.
 
The Yellowjackets next return to Rochester for their home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 10 against Nazareth University at 7:00 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.