#18 Rochester Shuts Out Houghton,, 2-0
PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX: Rochester won its sixth straight women's soccer match – and third in a row by shutout – with a 2-0 victory over visiting Houghton College at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
The Yellowjackets are 7-1 overall. Houghton is 4-6-1. The Highlanders were unbeaten (four wins, one tie) in five of their last seven coming into the match.
Jorie Freitag and Emily Tompkins scored the goals – both coming in the first 19 minutes. Goalkeeper Emma Schechter made one save for her sixth shutout. Houghton's Megan Merrifield made 11 saves and her defense swept two balls off the line.
Rochester's first shot produced a goal – in the third minute of play. Rochester took the ball away in the penalty area. Merrifield charged to the right post to try and cut off a pass. UR's Madison Drenowatz pushed it from the right endline to the crease where Freitag directed it into the low left corner. It was Freitag's second goal of the season.
The match was 19 minutes old when Drenowatz picked up her second assist of the game. The Yellowjackets played a ball out of their defensive third and found Drenowatz barely over midfield. She ran down the lead and kept going at full speed until she was about 10 yards off the endline. She cut towards the middle and lined a pass onto the foot of Tompkins who touched it perfectly into the low left corner. It was the first goal of the year for Tompkins.
Houghton created a couple of dangerous situations. With the score 1-0 in the 15th minute, a crossfield pass found Sarah Potocki running down the left sideline. She beat the defender on the dribble, cut along the endline and just inside the penalty area, fired. Schechter read it well and caught it neck-high before it could slip past her and inside the far post.
The second chance came from much closer. Houghton threw purple shirts forward in search of a first goal. Rochester wasn't able to clear the ball sufficiently and Houghton's Elisabeth Tate headed it into the side netting.
Rochester heads for the Midwest this weekend. The Yellowjackets open the University Athletic Associations season at Washington University-St. Louis. The Bears are ranked number six in the current coaches' poll. In all, four UAA schools are ranked in the Women's Top 25: 6. Washington, 10. Case Western Reserve, 12. Chicago, 18. Rochester. NYU and Emory are among others receiving votes.
Houghton returns home to play Nazareth in an Empire 8 game on Saturday.
