PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – University of Rochester men's soccer rallied back from a second-half deficit once, but couldn't quite do it twice as the Yellowjackets fell to the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium in their final home contest of the season.
Despite a scoreless first half, both teams had several changes, combining for 14 shots, four of which were on goal.
Mikey Burke nearly gave the Yellowjackets an early lead off a throw-in just over a minute in, as his header clanged off the crossbar off
Pasquale Carusone's long throw-in.
The Tartans' first opportunity came in the seventh minute, as Ian Kim sent one wide left on a cross into the box, while Sola Nishimura saw his blast from the left wing blocked by URochester's defense two minutes later.
Carusone forced Kai Yamamoto's first of six saves in the 12th minute, with a long-distance attempt that forced a diving save by the Tartans' keeper.
Rochester had another opportunity off a giveaway in the 24th minute, but
Milos Bisenic sailed his left-wing shot high for a goal kick.
Aidan Hartman came up with his first save in the 29th minute, saving a right-footed shot from Max Born down the far sideline, while Yamamoto came up with another for CMU in the 33rd minute.
URochester earned back-to-back corner kicks in the 31st and 32nd minutes, and on the second, the Tartans weren't able to clear it, and
Jasper Danielian blasted a shot from about 15-yards out, but Yamamoto was able to get just enough of it to force it over the bar.
Sebastian Ballesteros saw his attempt on the ensuing corner blocked, while Yamamoto came up with another save on a header from
Daniel Steinacher just past the 38-minute mark.
Following two more shots wide and blocked from Burke and
Lucas Lee, as well as one from Julian Koide that sailed wide of the mark, the Yellowjackets and Tartans headed to the locker room still scoreless.
The contest would stay that way till the 65th minute, when a foul in the box gave the Tartans a penalty kick, which Tristan Gonzalez converted to give CMU a 1-0 lead.
Hartman would come up with a tremendous save on another shot by Born less than a minute later, jumping to his right to keep the Tartans from extending their lead.
And just shy of the 70-minute mark, Rochester would earn a penalty kick of its own, and a chance to knot the score at one-all. Bisenic took the penalty for UR and saw his shot saved, but Yamamoto couldn't corral the rebound, and Bisenic put the rebound into the back of the net to tie the score at one.
Quickly, though, the Tartans took things the other way and put the pressure back on Rochester's defense, looking to retake the lead. Shots by Leo Salvucci and Justin Fung were blocked in the 71st minute, while Hartman had to come up with a pair of saves.
Hartman covered up a low shot from James Ashby in the 71st minute, and stopped another from Ashby with a leaping save just 27 seconds later, crashing into the far post to keep Carnegie Mellon from retaking the lead.
Rochester briefly took things the other way, but Carnegie Mellon got on the counterattack, and with numbers, Gonzalez scored again off a cross from the endline from Idan Garten to give CMU a 2-1 lead with just over 17 minutes to play.
Trailing once again, the Yellowjackets pressed forward and got back on the offensive. Bisenic forced Yamamoto to make another save with a header in the 77th minute, and then clanged a corner kick off the post in the 79th minute.
Johnny Makula's header was knocked away just eight seconds later, resulting in another corner, while
Will Fallona's header sailed across the face of goal but just wide with just over seven minutes remaining.
With a little over two minutes left, Rochester earned a free kick from just outside the box, but Bisenic's 25-yard free kick hooked just wide. Then, in the waning moments, Yamamoto made another save on a shot from Makula to finish off the 2-1 Carnegie Mellon victory.
With the loss, Rochester drops to 5-7-5 (2-2-2 UAA) on the year, while the Tartans move to 11-3-3 (3-2-1 UAA) with the victory.
As a team, Rochester outshot CMU, 20-14, and 6-7 on goal, and also held a 7-2 edge on corner kicks. Individually, Bisenic had a team-high six shots, three of which were on goal, while Hartman made four saves in goal.
The Yellowjackets will wrap up the regular season on the road in Atlanta, GA, facing the Emory University Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 11:00 a.m.
