CORTLAND, NY – The University of Rochester men's soccer team dropped its season opener to the No. 11-ranked SUNY Cortland Red Dragons, 3-0, on Tuesday evening at Holloway Field.
Despite outshooting the Red Dragons, 12-10, Cortland put three of its four shots on goal into the back of the net, while the Yellowjackets couldn't push it past Jordan Ott in goal.
The 'Jackets put the pressure on Ott and Cortland's defense early, with six shots and a corner in the first 25 minutes of the contest.
Will Fallona took Rochester's first attempt of the season, sending one wide just 1:26 into the game, while attempts from
Lucas Lee,
Mikey Burke and
Johnny Makula missed over the next 20-plus minutes.
Cortland earned its first attempt off a corner in the 27th minute, as Jack Pachla couldn't find the face of goal, while Diego Rivera forced
Aidan Hartman's lone save of the night in the 31st minute, earning the Red Dragons another corner.
Rivera tallied the Red Dragons' first goal of the evening eight minutes later, giving Cortland a 1-0 lead off Owen Brant's assist on a shot towards the left post off Brant's cross.
The Yellowjackets headed into the locker room down a score, but the Red Dragons quickly doubled the deficit to start the second half.
Just 35 seconds into the second period, Brant again came up with an assist, this time finding Jake Hutter, who dribbled once before beating Hartman to the bottom right corner of the goal to give Cortland a 2-0 lead.
Rochester looked to counter, now trailing by two, but Ott made a trio of second-half saves, stopping
Sebastian Ballesteros just past the 62-minute mark, and then holding off attempts from
Milos Bisenic and
Johnny Makula in the 68th and 69th minutes.
Rivera scored again for the Red Dragons in the 73rd minute to put the capper on SUNY Cortland's victory, heading Shay Daly's free kick into the top-right corner of the net to make it a 3-0 lead.
Rochester earned five corners down the stretch, looking to mount a late comeback, but Ott and the Red Dragons' defense held URochester without a shot the rest of the way to finish off the season-opening victory.
With the loss, Rochester falls to 0-1 on the year, while the 11th-ranked Red Dragons move to 1-0.
Offensively, Ballesteros led the 'Jackets with five shots, putting one on goal, while Rivera had two goals on five shots, three of which were on goal, to lead Cortland.
Hartman got the start and played all 90 minutes in goal for the Yellowjackets, allowing three goals and making one save.
The Yellowjackets will look to bounce back when they host SUNY Brockport to open their home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
