PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX - The 24th-ranked University of Rochester women's soccer team opened the 2025 campaign with a 2-0 victory over the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons on Friday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Despite being outshot, 9-7, the Yellowjackets made the most of their four shots on goal, finding the back of the net twice after a scoreless first half to earn a season-opening victory for the fourth-straight year.
Cece Vassallo fired in UR's opening salvo, sailing a shot wide just past the nine-minute mark of the first, while Tyla Vuotto notched Cortland's first shot off a corner kick in the 11th minute.
Vuotto's attempt sailed wide, while just shy of a minute later, Leah Rehm forced
Sydney Moore to make her first of five saves on the evening, firing a left-footed shot right at UR's keeper.
In the 25th minute,
Femke Laudy would notch Rochester's first shot on goal of the 2025 season, blasting a cross from
Claudia Ferreira at Rebecca Nazer, but the Cortland keeper made a diving stop, and the Red Dragon defense cleared the ball away to keep Rochester off the scoreboard.
The Red Dragons would threaten again with a little over 13 minutes left in the first half, earning a corner after UR's defense got a foot on Sage Luke's attempt. Off the ensuing corner, Vuotto got a head on the cross, but Moore again came up with the save.
After a scoreless first half, the Yellowjackets came out and quickly got on the scoreboard, surging ahead with two goals in the first 11 minutes of the second. Cortland deflected a cross in from Ferreira, but its made its way to
Claire Baim, whose right-footed shot clipped the arm of the Red Dragon defender, resulting in a penalty kick.
Natalie Santangelo calmly buried the penalty to give UR a 1-0 advantage, and just shy of the 56-minute mark, the sophomore would help Rochester double its lead.
With a burst of speed, Santangelo beat her defender and earned UR a corner. The 'Jackets played it short, and after
Hannah Nagashima played it back to Santangelo, the sophomore found
Remi Cherkas for a header-shot from about nine-yards out to double the 'Jackets' lead.
Down 2-0, the Red Dragons pressed the other way, earning a corner in the 60th minute, before Rehm launched another shot on goal, again saved by Moore. The Yellowjackets' graduate keeper made three second-half saves, the first off Rehm's 61st-minute shot, before adding two more in the 70th and 71st minutes on another Red Dragon offensive.
In the 70th minute, Moore knocked away a tipped shot by Vuotto off a long cross, resulting in a corner, while Moore kept SUNY Cortland out of the back of the net again in the 72nd minute, stopping another attempt from Vuotto.
On a set-piece from 17-yards out with 12:20 left, Cortland looked to have found the back of the net, but an offsides call disallowed the goal, keeping Moore and the 'Jackets' shutout intact.
Down the final stretch, UR's defense held Cortland to just one shot, an attempt from Piper Klammer that just sailed wide, as the Yellowjackets finished off a season-opening, 2-0 shutout, their fourth-straight shutout to begin a season.
Rochester moves to 1-0 with the win, while Cortland drops to 0-1 with the loss.
Offensively, Cherkas and Vassallo each had a team-high two shots, with Cherkas and Santangelo notching UR's two scores. Santangelo added an assist, while Vuotto led Cortland with five shots, three of which were on goal.
In goal, Moore made five saves, while Nazer allowed two goals and stopped a pair for Cortland.
The Yellowjackets continue their three-game homestand to open the year with a matchup against St. Lawrence on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 7:00 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
