CHICAGO – The University of Rochester and University of Chicago women's soccer teams battled to a scoreless draw in a late season University Athletic Association matchup at Stagg Field on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams entered the matchup in the NCAA Division III top-25, with Rochester sitting at #23 and the host Maroons being ranked #11.
Rochester's result ended up being a good one, as the Yellowjackets were able to hand the Maroons their first blemish on their record during UAA play. UChicago entered the contest 11-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in conference play before the Sunday draw. After the contest, UR now sits at 8-2-5 overall and is 0-2-3 in UAA play.
The Yellowjackets nearly got on the board in the sixth minute on a corner kick by
Ava Schmidt. The high-arching ball got sent into the box and deflected off a UChicago defender towards its own net, with midfielder Jamie Nguyen being on the mark, heading the ball off the line and away to safety.
URochester's first official shot of the game came at the 10:45 mark of the opening period by
Femke Laudy. The sophomore was able to get a foot on a loose ball following a corner kick by
Sydney Holmes, but a defender was able to deflect the shot before keeper Amanda Kayari jumped on it for the save.
Five minutes later, a long pass up from
Claudia Ferreira led a streaking
Lauren Blanch into the UChicago box, but the Maroon defense was able to recover just enough and block Blanch's left wing attempt away for a corner kick.
In the Rochester goal,
Kate Cunningham got the start and was tested for the first time near the midway point of the half.
UC's Lucy Harrison-Caldwell dribbled through the defense in close to the net on the right side before sending a cross towards the goal mouth, with Kaitlyn Gomez waiting for the one-timer. Gomez's attempt was deflected by the 'Jacket defense and scooped by Cunningham for the save.
Less than two minutes later, Cunningham made another stop, this time denying Berkeley Hedgspeth's point-blank chance from inside the six following a long service in from the left corner.
Over the final 20 minutes of the half, only UChicago got a shot attempt off, with Ashley Hayase's attempt sailing wide in the 35th minute.
In the second period, a turnover deep in URochester territory led to the first shot by either team, with Nguyen getting a shot in close blocked away by a recovering
Nicole Matute on defense at the 61-minute mark. The Maroons ensuing corner was corralled in the box by Cunningham in goal.
Back-to-back chances were earned by Chicago in the 69th minute. Following a corner, the ball got played back to the midfield before being sent back into the box, setting up Gomez for a 1-timer volley from eight yards.
Cunningham was able to make a kick save, with Gomez's rebound attempt getting blocked away by the defense.
At the other end, UR's
Jane Mueller recorded a solid chance following a through ball from
Hannah Nagashima, but Mueller couldn't shake the defender on a 1-on-1 opportunity, with Kayari gobbling up the deflected shot on goal.
The back-and-forth affair yielded another strong look by UChicago in the next minute, but Kate Bruntlett's shot from the left post was kicked away by Cunningham for the save.
Rochester's final shot of the game came off the foot of Haidi Shoenberger in the 78th minute after
Delia McMullen set her up on a transition opportunity, but the UChicago defense stood tall once again and blocked the shot away to safety.
In the final ten minutes, the Maroons took three more shots, but none ended on target, leading to the 0-0 draw after regulation time.
Indira Naylor had two of those looks, sending one just high from 20 yards and another less than a minute later that trickled just wide right of the right post.
For the contest, UChicago ended with a 12-4 lead in shot attempts and 4-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Maroons also took 14 corner kicks to URochester's 5.
Cunningham earned the shutout making four saves, while Kayari was credited with two saves for UChicago.
The Yellowjackets return home for their final contest of the regular season at Fauver Stadium on Saturday against Carnegie Mellon at 3:30 pm.
