Soccer obliterates Cortland and RPI

The golden goal belonged to the Yellowjackets this weekend as the women’s soccer team edged past the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons 2-1 during the second period of overtime.Both teams displayed powerful offense as they combined for 29 shots on goal. Nineteen of those shots belonged to the Yellowjackets and the other 10 to the Dragons. The game turned physical early, leading to head injuries and sprained ankles for the Yellowjackets. Despite these handicaps, the team was still unrelenting on Cortland’s offense.The Yellowjacket defense cracked early in the first half to give Cortland an unprotected 1-0 lead. The defense would not yield another goal the entire game as they shut down Cortland’s scoring opportunities. “Defense really held it together,” freshman goaltender Molly Leitch said. “Their performance made me feel comfortable in net. We were a steady force even though [junior] Kristen [Leskow] got hurt. Defense still carried the momentum after her injury.” Offense for the Yellowjackets did prevail late in first half. Sophomore Ashley Weagraff tied the score at one apiece when her pass over the middle unexpectedly became a shot on net. Apparently, Weagraff’s shot had enough curve on it to fool both her and Cortland’s goal tender. Neither team could resolve the stalemate that carried into the second half. Both challenged the ball hard, but defensive lines made little room for error.The Yellowjackets finally ended the tie during the second period of overtime when sophomore Emily Urbanczyk received a penalty shot from a foul incurred by a Cortland defenseman. Urbanczyk seized the opportunity to end the game by drilling the ball into the net, resulting in the final score of 2-1.Urbanczyk recorded her seventh goal, which leads the team on the season. Of the seven, three were game-winning goals. More impressive is the team’s record of 5-1-1 when Urbanczyk scores a goal. If that was not impressive enough, factor in the fact that Urbanczyk played more than half of the game on a sprained ankle.The team carried its momentum into their next game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, beating them by a score of 3-0.The Yellowjacket offense dominated the entire game with 26 shots on goal, the most in any game this season. Sophomore Angela Heaney recorded the first goal of the game as well as her first goal of her college career. When asked about her first goal, Heaney beamed a smile and replied, “I felt ecstatic.”Junior Kate Possee doubled that lead in the second half, when her long-range shot found the back of the net at the onset of the second half. Sophomore Mary Walsh sealed the victory for the Yellowjackets with an unassisted shot on net that yielded the final score of 3-0. The Yellowjackets sport a record of 9-3-3. They hope to sweep the last three games on their schedule to try and secure a position in the National Collegiate Athletics Association tournament, a feat that hasn’t happened since 2001. The team will try to pull this off in the comfort of their own home at Fauver Stadium. They start Friday facing off against Washington University in St. Louis, a team in their conference that has amassed a record of 13-2 on the season. They finish the weekend Sunday against the University of Chicago, also members of the University Athletic Association conference. Chicago sports a record of 11-1-2. Both will be tough matches. So, come on out and help cheer the team into the playoffs.Serafini can be reached at jserafini@campustimes.org.