Vapensky Denies Rochester in 1-0 Rooks Win

CHICAGO — Edgewater Castle Football Club defeated Rochester FC Saturday, June 6, in a 1-0 win. Goalkeeper Molly Vapensky totalled seven saves in the shutout. Forward Elyse DeSchryver scored the only goal for ECFC at the 54th minute mark.

The last time these two teams faced off, Rochester claimed a 3-1 victory May 30.  Head coach Emma Woodley said she wanted to make sure Rochester didn’t get the same results against the Rooks again.

 “We really just focused on training to match up to them,” Woodley said.  “We had a plan to shut them down and then, also just reorganize our formation and lineup to make sure that we were taking advantage of our own strengths as well.” 

The first half opened with Rochester in possession. Edgewater Castle began with high pressure off the ball which gave way to the first shot by midfielder Kristina Lynch two minutes into the match. Midfielder Ashley Scesniak responded 50 seconds later with a shot of her own. 

Rochester took their first shot at the Rooks in the sixth minute, when forward Rubi Ortiz shot from across the box leading to a save by Vapensky.Vapensky and the Rooks denied (x, figure this out from the stats sheet) more attempts from Rochester before the half ended tied at 0. 

The second half began and the Rooks quickly entered a scoring opportunity. In the 48th minute, DeSchryver took three shots at the goal. Two were saved by Rochester’s goalkeeper Kyla Holmes and the last shot passed over the goal. 

The second half didn’t require much adjustment according to DeSchryver, who said she believed in her team’s ability.

“Just keep going,” DeSchryver said. “We know, again, we're a good team where we had our chances in the first half. It just didn't get in the back of the net. So we were just like, all right, be confident and we can do this.”

DeSchryver’s shooting kept up as, in the 54th minute, she received a pass from Kristina Lynch and shot the game winning goal. 

For the rest of the game it came down to the defense and the work of Vapensky. In the 75th minute, Vapensky added another save to keep Rochester scoreless.

In the 92nd minute Scesniak put a stop to a potential goal scoring play by Rochester,  pivoting the offense from taking a shot. 

The Rooks kept RFC from scoring for the remainder of the time and the game ended with a yellow card given to RFC’s forward Savannah Malley for arguing with a referee about a hand ball decision made. 

The Rooks will continue their USL W competition Monday, June 8 where they will face RKC Third Coast at Pritchard Park Stadium in Racine, Wisc. Streaming is available on SportsEngine Play.