Box Score
A battle of two unbeaten teams surely lived up to the billing today with the University of Rochester field hockey team defeating SUNY Oneonta 3-1 in a non-conference tilt Sunday afternoon. The loss for the Red Dragons (3-1) was its first of the season while the Yellowjackets stayed perfect at 5-0.
The up-tempo game between the two teams produced many scoring opportunities and at the end, Oneonta outshot Rochester 19-13.
Early on, Rochester goalie Madison Wagner held strong, fending off shots off two Oneonta penalty corners, keeping the score knotted at zero.
Then at the 8:30 mark, Shelby Hall fired a hard shot from the top of the circle off of a UR penalty corner that was deflected in by an Oneonta defender, making the score 1-0 in favor of Rochester off the own goal.
The Yellowjackets made it 2-0 with 12 minutes remaining in the half when Gina Cunningham tipped in a hard shot from Sarah Dixon. The play, off a penalty corner, went to the right wing when Dixon fired. Cunningham got behind the goalie, who was out of the net and tipped it in the open goal.
The Red Dragons were able to answer right back a minute later when
Suzanne Wright (Hudson/Germantown Central) collected a pass from
Andrea Day (Greene/Greene) that slipped through the defense. It was Wright's third goal of the season and cut the UR lead in half.
At the break, UR held a slim 2-1 lead.
Early in the second half, Oneonta applied pressure in the transition game and turned that into multiple chances including two corners and four shots in the first six minutes.
After UR found its legs in the second half, they were able to produce excellent scoring chances during the middle part of the half. Hall, Megan Keil, Belle Hoagland and Michelle Relin all had great opportunities to stretch the lead, but Oneonta's defense played great and kept UR off the board. The good offensive pressure allowed the Yellowjackets to hold a 12 to 10 advantage in penalty corners.
All those chances paid off in the form of a goal in the 63rd minute when Lindsey Randall blasted a shot from the top of a circle past the Oneonta keeper. The goal, scored off a penalty corner by Keil, was Randall's third of the season.
In goal, Wagner finished with a season high 10 saves. Tracy made six saves while Servedio made one for the Red Dragons. Tracy started the game and was replaced by Servedio after Rochester scored its second goal. Tracy reentered the contest at halftime and finished the game.
Oneonta will play its home opener this coming Wednesday when they host nationally ranked Skidmore at All College Field beginning at 4pm.
