PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – Behind
Delia McMullen's second hat trick of the season, No. 23 University of Rochester women's soccer remained unbeaten on the season with a 3-0 victory over Otterbein University on Saturday at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
McMullen notched her second hat trick in four games, becoming just the third Yellowjacket in program history to tally multiple hat tricks in a season, and the first since Allison Collins had three games of three-plus goals in 2003.
McMullen scored a trio of goals in the Yellowjackets' 4-0 win against Wentworth on Sept. 6 in Keene, NH, and added three more on Saturday vs. the Cardinals to increase her season total to eight, a team high.
Rochester would go on the offensive early, earning its first of seven corner kicks just two minutes into the match, on which
Natalie Santangelo saw the first of her five shots blocked by the Cardinals' defense.
Just minutes later,
Femke Laudy curled in a shot that nearly found the back of the net, but a diving stop by Isabella Neal kept Rochester from scoring, at least momentarily. Following several blocked shots, as well as another save from Neal on
Maya Bravo's ninth-minute attempt, the Yellowjackets would break through on McMullen's first goal.
A chip forward ricocheted off a pair of Otterbein defenders, and McMullen took advantage, beating both defenders to the ball before ripping a 15-yard shot off her right foot to the top left of the goal to give Rochester a 1-0 lead a little under 12 minutes into the contest.
And despite 13 first-half shots and six first-half corners for UR, the score would stay that way for the rest of the first half. Neal and Otterbein's defense blocked and stopped the 'Jackets' shots to keep Rochester off the scoreboard the rest of the first half, with Neal picking up another save, while the Cardinals' defense stepped in the way of two more shots over the final 33 minutes of the first half.
On a pair of corners less than a minute after McMullen's first goal,
Eileen Harvey missed wide, while McMullen saw the first of two shots blocked. Neal made another save on Harvey's 24th-minute shot just a few minutes later, while McMullen missed wide left in the 27th minute.
URochester would head into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead, but it wouldn't take long for McMullen to find the back of the net, once again.
An early, second-half attempt from
Sydney Holmes sailed wide, while Otterbein earned its first and only corner of the match in the 51st minute. Holmes and co. took things the other way, though, where Holmes forced Neal's fourth save of the day.
Rochester kept possession and kept on the attack, though, and in the 59th minute, Santangelo played a ball forward to Laude. The sophomore crossed the ball into McMullen, and after bouncing off a defender, McMullen once again whipped it into the back of the net, this time with her right foot inside the far post to double URochester's lead.
And just under two minutes later, McMullen would finish off the hat trick and give the Yellowjackets a 3-0 lead, finishing off a bouncing pass from Harvey that skipped through Otterbein's defense. McMullen charged after the pass as well and beat a diving Neal for another score, giving herself the hat trick and the Yellowjackets a 3-0 lead.
That'd be all Rochester needed, leading 3-0 with just shy of 30 minutes to play. The Cardinals would fire off two late shots, both of which sailed wide, as
Eleni McGuire and the 'Jackets' defense posted another shutout, and URochester finished off its sixth-straight victory.
With the win, No. 23 Rochester moves to 6-0 on the season, while Otterbein falls to 1-5.
McMullen also led Rochester with six shots, three of which were on goal and found the back of the net. Santangelo had five and Harvey tallied three, while Bravo and Holmes each attempted a pair.
As a team, Rochester outshot Otterbein, 19-3 and 7-0 on goal, holding a 7-1 edge on corner kicks as well.
The Yellowjackets next continue their seven-game homestand with a matchup against William Smith College on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
