The Yellowjackets did their best but were unable to defeat defending New York state champion Ithaca University, falling 2-0 Wednesday afternoon in Ithaca. Both goals were scored during the first half of the difficult game, the first at 22:49 and the second at just under a minute before halftime was called.
“We played well in spurts but not throughout the whole game – at different points we did well and at other points not so well,” senior Shawnessy Dusseau said. “It was a grass field, which made it a little bit of an adjustment since we’re used to playing on turf.”
Though the game was a bit of a disappointment for the team, the action at Saturday’s game demonstrated the team’s ability when their energy is consistent. Intensity was the name of the game when the Yellowjackets faced SUNY Geneseo. The scoreboard remained blank for not only two regulation halves but also two overtime periods. The teams competed aggressively through two sudden death overtimes, without either producing a goal to capture victory.
The Yellowjackets took the only noteworthy shot in either overtime, with freshman Celinda Fletcher sending the ball towards the goal but missing narrowly. The ball bounced off the left post to leave both teams frustrated and UR particularly hungry for a win. In final attempts to determine a winner, four strokes were taken by each team, with Geneseo’s efforts coming out short by three strokes.
“We played really well and we were in the game mentally – we only had to take four of the usual five strokes because by four we had enough to win,” Dusseau said.
UR took advantage of each stroke for a final of three goals scored with only one stroke not making it into the net. With Fletcher and Dusseau each sending the ball in on their stroke opportunities, it was senior Jessica Cassavaugh who scored the final and winning stroke.
Freshman Mary DiMatteo was named rookie of the week in field hockey by the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association on Oct. 16th. In the past week DiMatteo has assisted on two goals and scored six times, helping UR to victories against the Wells College Express and Vassar College.
Currently, UR sits at 2-3 in the UCAA. Wednesday’s game moved the record to 7-8 overall, giving them a losing record after they had climbed back to .500 after the Geneseo win. The Yellowjackets return to Fauver Stadium to finish out their scheduled UCAA conference play next week, looking to pick up wins against Union College on Saturday and conference leader Skidmore College Friday.
Rigby can be reached at krigby@campustimes.org.
