PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – 10th-ranked University of Rochester women's soccer scored two, early second-half goals, but saw its lead erased as the Yellowjackets and RIT Tigers battled to a 2-2 stalemate on Wednesday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
The first half featured just four shots, with
Femke Laudy and
Ava Schmidt providing the lone shots on goal. The Yellowjackets earned four corner kicks within a two-minute span, beginning with a 15th-minute corner at the 14:40 mark, and earning another just over 20 seconds later.
Off Rochester's second corner, Laudy clipped a shot on goal towards the upper-left corner of the net, but Ashton Anderson was able to punch it away for another corner.
Schmidt's shot on goal came in the 32nd minute, as the sophomore sent a shot at Anderson with her left foot. But Schmidt wasn't able to get much on it, resulting in another save.
Rochester would quickly break through to start the second half, though scoring two goals in a span of less than three minutes, the first coming a little over four-and-a-half minutes into the half.
Laudy chased down a pass from
Lauren Blanch down the left wing, and rolled in inside to Schmidt, who one-timed Laude's pass past the outstretched arms of Anderson and into the back of the net to give Rochester a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers quickly countered, earning a pair of corners in the 51st minute after Valeria Luzio's header went wide, and on the second, A.J. Engelken's header steered just wide of the far post for a goal kick.
Less than a minute later, Rochester would double its lead on
Natalie Santangelo's 53rd-minute score.
Claudia Ferreira found a seam, and after crossing midfield, passed it out wide to Santangelo. The junior did the rest, cutting back across her defender and curling a tremendous shot off her left foot from 16-yards out into the back of the net to double the 'Jackets' advantage.
URochester would have another opportunity in the 61st minute, earning a corner which Ferreira sent in, but the Tigers' defense got in front of shots from Laudy and
Sydney Holmes, keeping the deficit at just two.
In the 68th minute, though, RIT would start to turn the tide in its favor, breaking through with its first of two goals in a six-minute span. Bella Coccio found Eli Gonzalez with a cross from the right-end line for a score, beating
Eleni McGuire with a one-timer at the edge of the six-yard box to cut Rochester's lead in half, 2-1.
And then off a 73rd-minute corner, Coccio came up with the assist yet again, as Elliot McSkimin headed in the equalizer off Coccio's corner to level the score at two-all.
With their lead erased, the Yellowjackets went back on the offensive over the final 17 minutes, putting the pressure on Anderson and the Tigers' defense. Just over four minutes after the Tigers tied things up, Ferreira charged up the left wing and just missed wide of the mark with a shot across the face of goal.
Then in the 82nd minute, Santangelo forced the first of two late saves from Anderson, the first coming on a left-footed shot from distance. While the second, in the 86th minute, came off a cross from Holmes that Santangelo nearly put into the back of the net, but Anderson got in front and smothered it to keep the score tied.
Another late attempt from Blanch sailed over the bar, and the final buzzer sounded with Rochester and RIT still tied at 2-2.
With the draw, #10 Rochester moves to 7-0-2 on the year, while the Tigers move to 4-2-2.
Individually, Santangelo led the 'Jackets with five shots, three of which were on goal, and her one goal, while Blanch, Laudy and Schmidt each tallied two.
As a team, Rochester outshot RIT, 14-7, and 6-2 on goal, but the Tigers converted both of their shots on goal into scores.
Rochester next hosts Case Western Reserve to open University Athletic Association conference play on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
