ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The University of Rochester field hockey team put on a strong performance to reach its fourth ever Liberty League Tournament Championship game, defeating visiting William Smith 4-0 in the conference semifinals on Wednesday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
The victory propels the #15 ranked Yellowjackets (16-3) into the conference championship match against Skidmore College at 1 p.m. on Saturday which will be hosted on the River Campus for the first time. Skidmore, who is the 2nd seed in the Liberty League Tournament, defeated Vassar 2-1 in overtime to set up the championship game. William Smith moves to 12-6 on the season with the loss.
Rochester was able to execute on its penalty corners in this one, scoring all four of its goals off of set pieces.
William Smith was able to earn the first scoring chance of the contest, coming on the games first PC in the 22nd minute. Hannah Wood was fed the ball along the left wing and ripped a hard blast that sailed wide of the UR cage.
The first score of the contest was off the stick of junior defender Courtney Dunham on UR's first corner of the contest in the 27th minute. Dunham received the corner from teammate Olivia Denny on the right wing and took a shot which somehow trickled its way through numerous defenders into cage for a 1-0 lead.
Haigis scored two goals for the third time in her career against William Smith.
Less than two minutes later, UR nearly made it 2-0 when Denny tipped a PC shot at the post right on goal, but Heron defender Samantha Petruzzo was there to clear the ball away for a defensive save.
At the break, the Yellowjackets held a 1-0 lead and were up 4-2 in both shots and corners.
After halftime, Rochester turned the tables completely in its favor, scoring three goals to put the game away, with the first coming off a well-executed one-timer from Colleen Maillie to Jessica Brandon at 51:53. After the initial PC shot by Dunham was blocked, Maille scooped up the ball, found space along the right side and slid a perfect ball across the circle to a wide open Brandon who slapped in her third score of the year.
Less than four minutes later, sophomore Maya Haigis put the Yellowjackets up 3-0 with a hard blast from the left side off a backhand tip pass from Maillie at the top of the circle.
William Smith was able to counter with an excellent opportunity at 59:38, when Wood made a nice drop pass in the circle, setting up Sierramarie Fitzgerald for a wide open chance from straight on 8 yards out, but UR's Kiran Sundaram made a nice save with her pad to preserve the shutout.
Haigis then finished the scoring for the night with another rocket from the left wing off a corner pass from Denny. It was Haigis' third two-goal game in her career against the Herons, as she scored twice in both games against William Smith in 2016.
For the game, Sundaram made four saves in her fourth solo shutout of the season. Emily King made four stops for the Herons in the loss.
The Herons were able to mount a bit of offensive pressure in the closing minutes with two corners and three shots, but it was too late to begin the comeback.
Wednesday's matchup with the sixth straight year that Rochester and William Smith had met in the Liberty League playoffs. The Herons had won four straight to start, including wins in the 2012 and 2015 championship game, but Rochester now has won two straight, both coming in the semifinals.