Mehta Scores Twice as Rochester Shut Out William Smith 3-0 Again and Reach the Liberty League Semifinals
Some teams need a week to get over a loss. Rochester needed four days to repeat a win, against the same opponents, at the same ground, by the same score.
Fourth-seeded Rochester beat fifth-seeded William Smith 3-0 in the Liberty League first round on Tuesday night at Edwin Fauver Stadium, four days after beating them 3-0 in the regular-season finale at the same venue. Same score, same outcome, different stakes. This time William Smith’s season ended.
Hannah Mehta did most of the damage. She opened the scoring at 19:51, taking the ball at the top of the circle from Rochester’s first penalty corner of the game, exchanging passes with Kristina Fedorova and rifling a shot past the keeper. She doubled the lead in the 38th minute, slipping between two defenders at the top of the circle and picking out the top corner. Two goals, both from the same area, both clinical.
Grayson Honig finished it two minutes into the final quarter, deflecting a Mehta shot home from another penalty corner. That made it 3-0, and from there Rochester’s defence did the rest. Goalkeeper Riley Leeser recorded the team’s fourth consecutive shutout, which tells you this run is built on more than one hot scorer.
Mehta now has 14 goals for the season, matching her career high, and she is peaking at the right time. Rochester improve to 13-6 and move on to Friday’s semifinal at top-seeded RPI, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. That is a step up in class, and Rochester will need the same defensive discipline they have shown in four straight shutouts to stay in it.
For William Smith, it is a sad end to a proud senior class. Elle Oberfield, Leah Griffith, Kylee Knuschke and Ava Vecchione finish their careers with an overall record of 44-41, and they were part of the side that won the program’s 13th Liberty League championship in 2023. The Herons finish 9-11. They lost twice to Rochester in four days, and both times the difference was Mehta at the top of the circle.
