The Yellowjackets started out strong on a Meliora Weekend game at Fauver Stadium against Vassar College’s Brewers. The game was important to the team and the team showed intense spirit, demonstrating confidence and a hunger for victory, with freshman forward Mary DiMatteo scoring at 8:42 in the first half off an assist from freshman midfielder Heidi Davies.
Less than 12 minutes later, the offensive player sent her second ball of the day into the net, upping the Yellowjacket’s lead to 2-0.
Senior Shawnessy Dusseau scored next, along with senior Jessica Cassavaugh with a head-on 15-yard shot assisted by freshman Kristy Johnson.
“We really came out strong in the first half, and we were moving the ball really well,” junior and defender Erin Charnow said.
It wasn’t until 48:01 when the Brewers made their first dent in the UR sweep and put Vassar on the scoreboard with one goal. The game helped improve the Yellowjacket’s Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association record to 2-2 and bumped their overall record to 6-6.
In a difficult match Oct. 12th, the Yellowjackets took on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on home turf and, although the team fought hard, they were unable to hold back the Engineers who took the game with a 2-0 victory. The first half showed strength by both sides with each team fighting to maintain possession, but RPI managed to get a shot past goalkeeper and senior Pamela Sheffield in the first fifteen minutes.
The Yellowjackets used this goal to fuel their ambition to score, taking a number of shots at RPI’s net, although none resulted in a goal. Late in the first half, however, the Engineers gained control of the ball and pushed back UR, scoring once more before halftime.
“We didn’t really play very well against RPI,” Charnow said. “I don’t know what was wrong, but something was just off throughout the whole game.”
The Yellowjackets made a strong attempt to regroup – UR showed its strength in the second half, defensively staying strong and keeping RPI from the net at all costs.
Not once in the second half did RPI get a single shot. Although several opportunities cropped up and the Yellowjackets took nine shots throughout the half, they could not gain a lead on the Engineers, allowing the opposing team the victory.
It certainly did not help that a group of streakers took the field late into the second half, distracting the players and delaying the game.
The team faces SUNY Geneseo and Ithaca College this weekend and returns home in order to play Skidmore College, the first-ranked team in the UCAA, on Oct. 24.
Rigby can be reached at krigby@campustimes.org.
