PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester field hockey team rallied from a 2-0 deficit after the first half and ended up completing the comeback in a penalty shootout, topping Vassar College 3-2 in a Liberty League matchup on Friday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
 
Rochester's win propels the Yellowjackets (12-4, 3-1 Liberty League) into a second place tie with the Brewers (8-5, 3-1 Liberty League) in the conference standings with just two weeks to go in the regular season. The head-to-head win could loom large for potential playoff seeding in the upcoming Liberty League conference tournament.
 
Senior defender Abigal Mateer notched her second game-winning goal of the season, despite not scoring any official goals, recording a score in the fourth penalty shootout round to put Rochester up 3-0. Vassar, with just two shooters remaining, could not tie it back up in the initial shootout round of five players.
 
URochester goalkeeper Kara Houston also came up huge in the shootout saving all three of the Brewer attempts, posting her 51st career victory in the Yellowjacket cage. Houston ended with three official saves during regulation and the overtime periods.
 
After an early Rochester penalty corner yielded no scoring chance, it was all Vassar the rest of the opening quarter, with the Brewers taking the only two shots and earning the only two other penalty corners.
 

A long pass up the right sideline found the stick of a streaking Zoe Robinson in the ninth minute. After getting into the circle, Robinson cracked a hard shot from the right wing to the low left corner of the cage for her team-leading 11th goal of the season, putting Vassar up 1-0.
 
In the second, the Yellowjackets Grayson Honig got her teams first shot on goal in the game following a steal in the midfield by Kristina Fedorova. After the turnover, Fedorova split two defenders with her pass to Honig in the circle, but the Rochester junior forwards shot was kicked away by goalkeeper Grace Wiley in the Vassar cage.
 
Just over a minute later, the Brewers lead doubled to 2-0 with Sierra Chow's fourth goal of the season. After a midfield steal by Vassar, the ball made its way into the circle where Robinson took a spinning attempt towards goal. The ball was deflected towards the left post where Chow was waiting and slapped in a one-timer from three yards.
 
Rochester, looking to answer back, earned back-to-back penalty corners in the 22nd minute of the contest. After the first attempt did not yield a shot, UR's Ella Krauss had a clean look at goal on the second attempt, but Wiley again came up with the kick save to keep Vassar in front by two.
 
In the third, the Yellowjackets looked for a quick start and got one courtesy of Honig's sixth goal of the season.
 
After Vassar tapped the ball out of bounds on the right side, Cassidy Romano got to restart the play and sent a slow bouncing ball into the circle that somehow evaded three Vassar defenders and found Honig on the right wing.
 
Honig then made a turn around a fourth defender and chipped a shot over Wiley who went down for the save, cutting the Brewers lead in half just under two minutes into the period.
 
A Yellowjackets turnover in their own defensive end led to a deflection shot attempt by Robinson on goal in the 36th minute, with Houston coming up with a diving save to her right to keep the Vassar lead at just one.
 
Sixty seconds later, Rochester was able to tie the game up at the other end of the field, with Emilia Parrado scoring her first goal of the season off a pass from Elena Mendoza.
 
The play started along the backline, with Kyla Byer providing a long hit up the left sideline to Honig. After Honig sent the ball into the circle to Mendoza made a terrific juke around a Brewer defender and drew Wiley off her line. With the goal wide open, Mendoza sent a backhand cross pass in front to Parrado for the easy tap-in goal.
 
Neither team could muster a shot the rest of the third, sending the teams to the final regulation period tied at two.
 
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, with Rochester earning a pair of corners and took the only shot of the period, with Anya Arseneau's attempts in the 53rd minute sailing wide.
 
With play shifting to overtime, play opened up with four less players on the field, but neither team was able to score, sending the game to the shootout to decide a winner.
 
In the shootout, Vassar decided to swap goalies, with Ellie Rosen replacing Wiley in the cage. Rochester shot first, with Krauss connecting on the first goal, flicking a backhand shot on Rosen's stick side into the net.
 
On Vassar's first attempt, Sophia Jammar tried a backhand that Houston got a pad on. The senior keeper did a good job to not cover up the ball that would have led to a penalty stroke, and eventually kept the ball out of the cage to keep Rochester ahead in the shootout.
 
Sophia Cuneo was the next shooter for URochester, with her juke up the right side ending in a shot sailing just wide of the right post.
 
Houston again came up with another save on the next Brewers shooter, getting down to a knee before kicking the ball off the stick of Sofia Beseth. After the initial kick save, Houston was able to poke the ball towards the outer part of the circle and away to safety ahead of the 8-second shot timer sounding.
 
Rochester's third shootout attempt was taken by Honig. The 'Jacket junior drove in hard to the left side, getting Rosen down on the ground before spinning around and shooting a 6-yard forehand into the open cage for a 2-0 lead.
 
In the third Vassar shootout round, Anna Hazewindus took a similar line to Beseth, charging toward the left side. After a spin attempt, Houston was able to read the play and poke the ball away for another save, giving Rochester a chance to clinch with a goal in round four.
 
Mateer was able to secure the win with a spin move of her own in the fourth shootout round for the Yellowjackets. The senior defender went straight on at Rosen, and followed with a similar move to that of Honig in the previous round, depositing her shot inside the right post for the 3-0 shootout win for the Yellowjackets.
 
Just two weeks ago, Mateer posted the game-winning shootout goal in the fourth round against another Liberty League rival in Skidmore. That evening, the URochester score in the shootout was 4-1, with the Yellowjackets coming away with a 2-1 win overall.
 
On Friday, Rochester ended up leading 11-9 in shot attempts, with both teams getting five shots on frame. The Yellowjackets dominated in penalty corners though, leading 14-3, with seven of those corners coming in the two 10-minute overtime periods.
 
Up next, the Yellowjackets hit the road on Sunday for another conference matchup, playing at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in a Liberty League contest starting at noon.