PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – 18th-ranked University of Rochester women's soccer cruised to a 5-1 win over the Alfred University Saxons on Wednesday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium in their final non-conference matchup of the season.
The 'Jackets turned in an impressive effort, putting consistent pressure on goal and finding the back of the net five times, four of which came in the first half. Rochester outshot the Saxons, 33-2 and 16-1 on goal, and also held an 11-1 edge on corner kicks.
URochester would find the back of the net for the first time just under 12 minutes into the contest, on its third shot on goal for the contest. Following two early saves from Lauren Mott,
Sydney Holmes crossed in a pass to
Claudia Ferreira, who pulled Mott out of goal with her first touch.
Mott dived but couldn't corral the ball, and after it was knocked away, Ferreira poked the ball into a wide-open net to give the 'Jackets a 1-0 lead.
UR would keep pressing offensively, earning another two corners over the next three minutes, before
Femke Laudy made it 2-0 in the 16th minute. Alfred attempted to clear away Rochester's second corner, taken short by
Ava Schmidt to
Natalie Santangelo, but
Gabi Chioccola kept the ball in play and crossed it into the box, where Laudy scored from six-yards out to make it a 2-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Chioccola picked up her second assist as the Yellowjackets made it 3-0 on
Lauren Blanch's score. Santangelo crossed in Chioccola's pass down the right side, and Blanch was there for the header, floating it over Mott to extend the lead to 3-0.
Rochester continued to threaten Mott and the Saxon defense, tallying 18 shots and nine shots on goal in the first half, five of which Mott saved.
The Yellowjackets would get one more goal before the first-half buzzer sounded, as
Addison Davis and
Jane Mueller combined for some two-woman action to further extend URochester's lead.
Mueller dribbled into the box from the near side and passed it over to Davis, who, without a defender around her, needed just two touches to put the ball into the back of the net, scoring from 10-yards out to the low right to give the Yellowjackets a four-goal lead.
Both teams would make a goalie change to start the second half, with
Kate Cunningham coming in for
Eleni McGuire, while Reagan Hunt relieved Mott.
That change wouldn't stop Rochester from scoring again, though, as Santangelo found the back of the net after an assist in the first half to make it a 5-0 lead.
Just over a minute into the second half, Schmidt lofted a pass to Santangelo, streaking ahead of Alfred's defense. The junior, onside, settling it with her right foot and then finished with her left, burying a shot from 13-yards out to the lower right of goal, past a diving Hunt to further add to URochester's lead.
Up 5-0, the 'Jackets continued to pressure Hunt and the Alfred defense, with another 15 shots in the second half, seven of which went on goal.
Hunt saved a long shot from Laudy in the 54th minute off the crossbar, and kept another attempt from
Hannah Nagashima in the 65th minute out of the back of the net.
Alfred would break through in the 75th minute after earning its first corner of the night, Zoey Wolf headed in Isabelle Dennis' corner kick to get Alfred on the scoreboard and cut Rochester's lead to 5-1. But the 'Jackets would hold Alfred without another shot the rest of the way.
On the other end,
Sienna Moss lofted a high-arching shot towards goal in the 75th minute, forcing a leaping save by Hunt, while
Izzy Makosch nearly snuck one into the near post after splitting three defenders in the 77th minute, but again, Hunt knocked it away for a save.
The Yellowjackets would close out the contest with three more shots, one of which was on goal, over the final eight minutes, before the final buzzer sounded with Rochester in front, 5-1.
No. 18 Rochester moves to 8-1-2 with the win, while the Saxons drop to 2-7-3 with the loss.
Individually,
Addi Verdon had a team-high four shots, while Blanch, Davis, Laudy, Santangelo and Schmidt each contributed three.
The Yellowjackets will wrap up their seven-game homestand on Saturday, Oct. 10, when they resume conference play with a matchup against No. 24 NYU at 1:30 p.m. inside Fauver Stadium.
