The University of Rochester men's soccer team picked up its biggest win of the season on Friday evening, defeating 3rd-ranked Washington University in St. Louis 3-2 at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Rochester (8-3-4, 2-1-1 UAA) rallied from a goal down on two occasions and ultimately posted the victory behind a pair of second half goals by Kol Bassuk and Milos Bisenic. Johnny Makula scored the first half goal for URochester to complete the scoring.
The Yellowjacket win was the first by a Rochester men's soccer squad over a top-5 opponent since 2018 when the 'Jackets topped #1 Messiah at home to clinch a spot in the Division III Final Four.
WashU (11-2-0, 3-1-0) suffers its first conference loss of the season, but remains atop the University Athletic Association standings with three games to play in the regular season.
The standings did get tighter though, with Chicago (2-0-2 UAA) and Rochester (2-1-1 UAA) both within two conference points of the Bears. Rochester hosts a nationally-ranked Chicago squad on Sunday at Fauver Stadium, with the Yellowjackets looking to pull off another upset and continue their ascent up the league rankings.
On Friday, the visiting Bears were able to strike first in the 13th minute, with Ethan Wirtschafter tapping in a loose-ball rebound after a shot by Zach Susee could not be corralled by Rochester keeper Ben Ziegler.
In the 24th minute, Rochester's Kamal Ibrahim had a good look on goal after a run up the left side and into the box. Ibrahim's left wing shot from eight yards was saved by a diving Cal L'Hommedieu in the WashU goal. The rebound sat at the edge of the six for Bisenic, but his follow-up shot sailed high of the net.
Less than a minute later, Makula leveled the score on a great run-up in the midfield, connecting on a 1-touch goal from eight yards off a pass from the right side by Ibrahim. Makula's fourth score of the season beat L'Hommedieu on the short side, sneaking the shot just inside the right post.
The tie game did not last long though, as WashU responded right away in the 28th minute to regain the lead. On the play, Miles Newman sent in a long service from the left side to the goal mouth where Daniel Kochen was waiting for a 1-timer that was slammed into the top center of the net.
WashU nearly made it 3-1 in the 35th minute, but Ziegler came up with a big stop, diving to his right to deny a 10-yard volley shot by Tyler Allred. A pair of WashU corner kicks in the next minute were then cleared away by the Yellowjacket defense.
After intermission, the Yellowjackets controlled most of the game, ending with a 14-5 shot advantage and 8-1 lead in corners over the final 45 minutes.
Bassuk scored the equalizer in the 51st minute on URochester's first shot of the second half. The Yellowjackets earned a corner and Bisenic sent the ball in towards the near post where Bassuk got a heel on it and saw the ball deflect in off a WashU defender. The senior captains goal was his third of the season, setting a new single-season high in the process.
The Yellowjackets kept the pressure on, with another corner kick yielding a terrific opportunity to take the lead at the 60-minute mark.
This time, Bisenic took the set-piece from the left corner, with the ball ending up again being sent towards Bassuk at the near post. Bassuk got a foot on it, sending the ball careening towards the goal, but a well-placed Newman was able to clear the ball off the line for a team save.
Over a four-minute stretch, the Yellowjackets took five straight corner kicks, with the fifth attempt by Bisenic ending as a shot directly on goal, but L'Hommedieu was able to punch it away to keep the game tied.
With 19 minutes to go, Bisenic tallied the game-winning goal, striking a shot from 23 yards out to the perfect spot in the low left corner of the net. The junior found space in the middle of the field, juking past a pair of Bears defenders before unleashing the rocket shot for his team-leading sixth goal of the year.
WashU responded in the next few minutes getting three shots and a corner kick, looking to get back into the contest, but none of the shots ended on frame as the 'Jacket back line blocked two attempts and forced the third to go wide.
In the 78th minute, Bisenic nearly netted another goal, coming off a long free kick from nearly 35 yards. The attempt from the near the left sideline cracked off the far post, with a rebound shot by EliJose Araujo sailing wide.
A last-gasp attempt by the Bears saw Wirtschafter get a shot off inside the box, but Mikey Burke deflected the ball away and allowed Ziegler to pounce on it before it crossed the endline, killing off some valuable extra seconds in the last minute.
Ziegler made two saves in the URochester goal, while L'Hommedieu was peppered with 21 shots against and made seven saves.