ROCHESTER, N.Y. – In yet another chapter of the Skidmore-Rochester rivalry, the Skidmore College field hockey team fell to the Yellow Jackets 2-1 in the Liberty League Semifinal game at Farver Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
 
Skidmore's season ends at 8-11. Rochester will advance to the Liberty League Championship game for the fourth straight year, and will face either Vassar and RPI on Saturday. It was the sixth straight game between the teams that finished with a one-goal margin and the fourth year in a row that the teams met in the Liberty League postseason.
 
The Yellow Jackets put early pressure on the Thoroughbreds in this one, getting the goal 6:26 into the contest. Off a penalty corner, Rochester's Nancy Bansbach took a shot that was stopped by Skidmore goalie Elizabeth Coughlin, but the ball went back to Bansbach, who punched it past Coughlin.
 
Undeterred, Skidmore tied the game early in the second half, at 46:18. Gabby Hyman, using her athleticism to beat the Rochester defense, found herself 1-on-1 against Rochester goalie Kate Kujawa and beat her to the low left corner.
 
Rochester retook the lead off its 14th penalty corner of the game at 58:54. A shot from the top of the arc by Colleen Maillie was redirected by Amanda Strenk, who tipped the feed past Coughlin.
 
The Thoroughbreds nearly tied the game with 9:34 remaining in regulation. Down a player due to the yellow card, Marissa Folts fed a long pass to Hyman, who beat a few defenders and fed Grace Florsheim inside the arc. Florsheim's shot got past the goalie but was deflected away by Maillie near the goal line.
 
Skidmore had its final quality chance to tie things up with 3:48 to go. Another long pass, this time by Sarah Winters, found Gabby Vaccaro on the left side, who dumped it in front of net towards Hyman. Hyman tried to poke the attempt into goal but was turned away by Kujawa near the goal line.
 
Rochester outshot the Thoroughbreds by a 16-6 margin, but shots on goal were much closer with Rochester holding an 8-5 advantage.