PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester field hockey team saw its rally fall just short in a 3-2 loss on Sunday afternoon against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
URochester (7-4, 0-2 Liberty League), dominated the second half in both possession and stats, leading 17-4 in shots and 16-1 in corners, but only mustered one goal, failing to come back from a 3-0 deficit from the opening half.
RPI (8-2, 2-0 Liberty League) scored twice in the opening period and then notched a goal in the opening 70 seconds of the second to lead 3-0 and shock the host Yellowjackets. Rochester battled started its comeback with a goal from
Hannah Mehta in the 20th minute before intermission.
UR's second half goal came from
Kristina Fedorova early in the fourth quarter, with
Erin Foley assisting on both of the 'Jacket scores.
Unfortunately for UR though, the barrage of offense couldn't muster up the tying tally, leading to the one-goal defeat.
In the first quarter, the Engineers had their turn with a strong offensive attack, earning five corners in the opening five minutes, to go along with a trio of shots.
Their fourth shot of the game found the back of the net, with Kennedy Campbell redirecting a left wing penalty corner shot by Kylie Secker past UR keeper
Riley Leeser for the 1-0 lead.
RPI kept the pressure on, doubling the lead on its next shot. This time it was Katie Galgay tapping in a deflected right wing chance by Sophia Brown. On the penalty corner, Galgay was able to sneak behind the UR defense and backhand the ball in from the goal line after Brown's deflection slipped past the defense and Leeser in goal.
UR got a shot wide from Foley to break onto the stat sheet, and later in the period, Mehta tested RPI keeper Olivia Brovak for the first time in the 13th minute. RPI's keeper made one of her seven saves on the day.
In the second, RPI tacked on another score as Ella Pasquarelli tapped in a rebound goal following a Jianna Seale shot on goal. Leeser got a pad on Seale's shot, but was unable to clear it completely away, with Pasquarelli being able to slap in the loose ball for the 3-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Rochester got on the board with Mehta notching her ninth goal of the season. After a
Sophia Cuneo penalty corner insert went to Foley at the top of the circle, a swing pass went to the left over to Mehta who blasted the 14-yard shot into the cage.
Shortly after, UR's
Gloria McDonald picked up a loose ball five yards off the goal line, but her backhand shot was saved away by Brovak.
At the half, Rochester trailed 3-1, but looked to be turning the tables in the contest.
That came to fruition in the third, with the Yellowjackets nearly having all of the possession in the RPI third of the field. Overall in the quarter, the Yellowjackets had 13 total shots to two for the Engineers, but were unable to break through.
The best URochester chance in the third came off a corner shot by Mehta. A slow, bouncing ball found its way through Brovak, but Ryan Sapgnolo was able clear the ball off the line for a defensive save. A rebound shot by
Sophia Marcotte was saved by a recovering RPI keeper, but led to another flurry of corners.
The ensuing onslaught featured Cuneo and Marcotte shots on goal, with Fedorova blasting a shot wide, as the score remained 3-1 RPI.
Late in the third, RPI got its lone offense surge in the second half, with Leeser denying Pasquarelli and Brown on back-to-back attempts in the 45th minute.
UR continued to press into the fourth, with Foley finding Fedorova with a cross pass to halve the RPI lead. The corner play saw Foley dribble around to the right corner of the circle before sending the ball in front. The ball made its way through the defense to a wide open Fedorova for the 1-timer goal.
After cutting the lead to one, Rochester's attack continued, with four corners in the next four minutes, but only one shot was earned, that by Mehta sailing high.
RPI withstood the rally attempt the rest of the way, with the Engineer defense holding the Yellowjackets without a shot over the final 10 minutes.
For the whole game, Rochester led 22-11 in shots and 19-8 in penalty corners. 10 of UR's shots ended on goal, with eight of RPI's shots being on target. Leeser finished with five saves in the loss for Rochester, while Brovak ended with seven stops.
Up next, Rochester heads back on the road in conference play, squaring off against Skidmore College on Saturday October 10 at noon.
