Women's soccer ascends to No. 23 rank

Soccer took its talent on the road and returned home with two more W’s, which gives them a record of 6-1-3 on the season. The wins this week bolstered the Yellowjackets into No. 23 in the Division III Top 25 poll. The first victory took place at SUNY Geneseo against the Knights, who this season have had unimpressive record of 4-10. Despite the losing record, the Knights struck first midway through the first half, giving the team a 1-0 lead. That would be the only goal for the Knights. The Yellowjacket defense shut them down by allowing only four shots on goal in the second half.The Yellowjackets responded quickly to the Knights’ goal. Sophomore Maureen Dudiak connected with freshman Darby Grant, who touched the ball into the net to tie the score at one each. The defense for both teams stood their ground, leaving the score at a tie through the rest of the first and majority of the second half of the game. The Yellowjackets ended the stalemate with a little over five minutes left in the game. Sophomore Emily Urbanczyk was issued a direct kick from a foul incurred by one of the Knights’ defenseman. Urbanczyk, who stood 30 yards from the goal, lofted the ball into the net and ended the tie, handing the Yellowjackets their fifth win. The win against the New York University Violets improved the Yellowjackets’ record in the University Athletic Association conference to 2-0 on the season. The perfect record puts the team in sole possession of first place in their conference. This game was won on pure offense, as the team got off four goals over a span of 13 minutes. The scoring melee started with senior Karen Forsythe’s unassisted goal. Hanging around the goal, Forsythe gathered the ball as it rebounded off the corner post. She quickly put in the net where it belonged.Five minutes later, Emily Urbanczyk made her own move by driving the ball into the far post, giving the team a 2-1 edge. Freshman Laura Morrison continued the siege on the Violets’ net by getting off two goals in the last two minutes of the 13-minute scoring fling. Morrison’s first goal came off a corner kick taken by Forsythe. Forsythe placed the kick beautifully for Morrison to pad the Yellowjackets’ lead.Morrison’s second goal came on a breakaway. She broke free from the defense and carried the ball the down the field. She netted UR’s fourth goal, capping the four-goal spree. Morrison’s performance this past week earned her the title University Athletics Association Offensive Player of the Week. More than likely, the award came from her impressive outing against NYU, which happened to be the first two goals of the season for the freshman. The schedule for this coming week will test the Yellowjackets’ skill to an even greater extent. Their next two opponents are both members of the UAA. Even more challenging is the fact that both games take place on the road against Carnegie Mellon University on Friday and Emory University on Sunday. Serafini can be reached at jserafini@campustimes.org.