SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The University of Rochester women's lacrosse team dropped its second-straight contest by an 11-10 margin, falling to the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Wachenheim Field.
 
Isla Ablin would make her first of a season-high 22 saves following an early draw control by Annie Campbell and the Thoroughbreds before the Yellowjackets would strike first just past the 13-minute mark of the opening quarter.
 
Maddie Bunting forced a Skidmore turnover and the 'Jackets would take things the other way, culminating their first offensive possession with a goal by Alyssa Gorny, her 18th of the season, to go up 1-0.
 
Gorny quickly won the draw control and got Rochester back on the offensive, scoring again after Gracie Giannettino's first attempt went wide to make it a 2-0 UR advantage with 11:49 left in the first.
 
And despite a trio of shots on goal over the next eight minutes, Ablin and the UR defense would keep Skidmore off the scoreboard for almost 13 minutes, until Lily Schwartzman broke through with the Thoroughbreds' first goal of the contest.
 
Schwartzman's score, her first of seven goals on the afternoon, made it 2-1, while Julia Cafasso's goal just past the minute mark of the first quarter leveled the score at two-all after one-quarter of play.
 
Schwartzman and Cafasso would then score the first two goals of the second quarter to give Skidmore its first lead of the day, as the Thoroughbreds held Rochester without a score for more than 20 minutes of action, outscoring the 'Jackets 4-2 in the second quarter to take a 6-4 halftime lead.
 
Cafasso's second goal of the day extended Skidmore's lead to 4-2 with 11:52 left in the first half, while Schwartzman found the back of the net for the third time with 5:44 left in the second quarter to extend Skidmore's lead to 5-2.
 
UR won the draw though and countered, with Zoey Miller notching a score on a free-position shot to break the scoring drought. The 'Jackets again won the draw and pulled within one, taking advantage of a green card on the Thoroughbreds to score with a player advantage.
 
Giannettino tallied her first of the day just shy of the fourth-minute mark of the second but then saw another attempt get saved by Maggie Hough with 2:48 left in the first as UR tried to tie the score at five.
 
Skidmore would add another goal on Schwartzman's fourth tally of the day to take a 6-4 lead into the locker room, and the Thoroughbreds' senior would score again three-and-a-half minutes into the third to make it 7-4.
 
Down by three, Rochester would rally back, finding the back of the net once again on Anna Rogers goal, assisted by Jenna Ufberg, after Hough saved three attempts over a four-minute span.
 
Rogers' score made it 7-5 with 8:34 left in the third, while a little less than four minutes later, Ella Lassen again pulled Rochester within one, 7-6, with a free-position goal with 4:37 to play in the quarter.
 
Skidmore won the ensuing draw, by Ablin stopped Jullian Lockwood's attempt, and the 'Jackets would take things the other way. Gorny would see her shot saved, but after a failed clear and turnover, Rogers found the equalizer off Lassen's assist, leveling the score at seven-all.
 
The Thoroughbreds would answer right back with a goal from Hillary Noble, however, Gorny would send the two sides into the fourth tied up at eight. Taking advantage of another player-up opportunity, Gorny found the back of the net off Giannettino's assist with just 34 seconds left in the quarter, and UR and Skidmore would head to the final frame all square at eight.
 
In the fourth, Skidmore and Rochester would match each other goal for goal, with Giannettino finding the back of the net to even the score at 9-all just a minute after Grace deBenedictis made it 9-8 off Charlotte Taylor's assist.
 
With 8:10 left in the fourth, Giannettio scored again, converting a free-position shot to give UR its first lead since the first quarter, but less than a minute later, Schwartzman found the back of the net once again, tying the score at 10-10.
 
Down the stretch in the fourth, Ablin made three saves while Hough made one to keep things deadlocked at 10-all, and Rochester and Skidmore would head to sudden-death OT.
 
The Yellowjackets won the opening draw of overtime, but Hough saved Giannettino's attempt, and after a turnover, the Thoroughbreds took a timeout to setup their offense.
 
Ablin made two more saves, stopping Lockwood twice in the span of 30 seconds, but Schwartzman knocked in the game-winner for the Thoroughbreds just seconds later, giving Skidmore an 11-10 victory.
 
Rochester falls to 3-4 (0-2 LL) with the loss, while Skidmore moves to 5-4 (2-1 LL) with the win.
 
Giannettino and Gorny each led Rochester with three goals, while Giannettino, Lassen and Ufberg each tallied an assist. Sara Mendelson had a team-high seven draw controls, while Albin, in addition to her season-high 22 saves, led Rochester with four ground balls.
 
Defensively, Campbell Sy forced a pair of turnovers, while four other 'Jackets: Maddie Bunting, Giannettino, Gorny and Erin Esposito, each forced one.
 
Rochester next heads to Ithaca, NY to continue conference play against No. 14 Ithaca on Wednesday, March 26 at 4:00 p.m.