UR women’s soccer defeated the University of Chicago (UC) Maroons by a score of 3–1 on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Fauver Stadium.
The game was scoreless through the first 35 minutes, although UC had six shots to UR’s one. Two of UC’s shots were saved by UR goalie senior Grace Kuropatkin (#00) in the 19th and 32nd minutes. Finally, one of UC’s shots got past Kuropatkin, courtesy of sophomore Kamiryn Braxton Grimes (#2).
UR equalized just before the end of the first period when sophomore Lauren Blanch (#7) scored her first goal of the season with 45 seconds left; first-year Claudia Ferriera (#30) picked up the assist.
Five minutes into the second period, UC junior Mary Stuart Kerrigan tested Kuropatkin, only for the shot to be saved. Minutes later, UR took the lead when first-year Natalie Santagelo (#10) scored, assisted by sophomore Maya Bravo (#4).
The next 20 minutes were a defensive battle as neither team scored and various players from both teams were called for fouls. Finally, Blanch scored again in the 75th minute to make the score 3–1 to give UR some breathing room.
In the following minutes, UC furiously tried to fight their way back into the game, firing three shots on goal, only for Kuropatkin to save two and for UR’s defense to block the last.
In the final minutes of the game, UR made an effort to pull away but were thwarted by UC’s defense. Kuropatkin picked up her final save in the 86th minute, while UC’s final shot was blocked with seconds left in the game.
The game was a physical one, with UC picking up nine fouls to UR’s seven. UC outshot UR 15 to 12, although they had just one more shot on goal (7–6). On the defensive side, Kuroptakin anchored UR with six saves, while UC had three.
This win propelled UR to a 7–1–2 record, who will next host RIT on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Fauver Stadium.
