Sheppard Scores Two Goals - GWG with 1:27 Left for Rochester
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Cesca Sheppard poked the ball into the net with 1:27 left in regulation to give the University of Rochester a 2-1 women's soccer victory over St. John Fisher College on Tuesday evening at Edwin Fauver Stadium
Sheppard scored both UR goals. She equalized in the first half after Carli Kovarik gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute.
Rochester goalkeeper Emma Schechter made one save – she stopped a hard blast from Kovarik in the first 30 seconds – to get the victory. Fisher's Melissa McGowan made five saves.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for UR. The Yellowjackets improved to 6-3-1 overall. Fisher is 4-3-2 overall.
The winning goal came after Rochester spent most of the second half in the Cardinals' end of the field, but couldn't connect. SJFC's backs did a good job of getting in the way of passes and disrupting the flow of play.
Fisher's speed gave Kovarik a chance to snap the 1-1 tie in the 86th minute. Tara Marcello broke from midfield and released a pass down the left slot that Kovarik reached after outrunning a defender. She cut into the box and tried a shot, but the Yellowjacket defense retreated and blocked the ball away.
With the clock under two minutes, Jorie Freitag won a throw-in about 10 yards off the endline. Shayna Levy threw it in to Keri Eden. She bicycled it into the penalty area to Emily Henry who nodded it ahead between the penalty spot and the edge of the crease. McGowan rushed off the line but Sheppard got there first and touched it inside the low right post.
Both teams came out looking to create offensively after going scoreless in their previous two matches (Fisher 0-0 in 2 OT with Ithaca, then 0-3 loss to Stevens; Rochester 0-1 vs. Nazareth and 0-3 vs. #3 Chicago). In the first rush downfield, Kovarik fired a bullet at the UR goal which Schechter was able to catch. A minute later, Eden stormed the Fisher penalty area and forced a good save from McGowan.
Kovarik's speed on the counter attack put the guests ahead. Elise Olivo led her down right wing. From outside the right corner of the box, she drove a low blast under Schechter and into the left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Sheppard got the equalizer six minutes later. She took a short drop pass from Andrea Lopez and lofted a 25-yarder over the reach of McGowan and just under the crossbar.
Notes: The gamewinning goal was the second for Sheppard this season. She scored against Stevenson in a 1-0 win on opening day… Rochester is home to face top-ranked Washington-St. Louis on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in a UAA matchup… Fisher returns to Empire 8 play Saturday when the Cardinals host Hartwick College.
