CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland women's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to nationally 18th-ranked Carnegie Mellon on Sunday afternoon on Holloway Field. Carnegie Mellon improves to to 5-1-1 on the year, while Cortland falls to 2-2-1.
 
Tyla Vuotto (Lynbrook) had three shots on goal to lead the Red Dragons, while Leah Rehm (East Syracuse/East Syracuse-Minoa) and Piper Klammer (Mahopac) each had one shot on target. Olivia Rouse (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) made six saves in goal for Cortland.
 
Audrey Bianco scored both goals for Carnegie Mellon, on just two shot attempts. Kiera Chang and Skylar Hendricks both registered an assist for the Tartans. Abby O'Connor made five saves for the shutout in goal.
 
Carnegie Mellon had an early opportunity halted by a strong defensive intervention by Avery Rich (Ilion/Central Valley Academy) in the 12th minute, as Rich closed the gap on a Tartan attacker attempting to run through on goal.
 
In the 25th minute, Rich fired a shot from outside the 18-yard area just to the right of the post in one of Cortland's best chances of the half.
 
The Tartans struck first in the 41st minute, when Bianco took a feed from the right side from Hendricks, and fired a low shot from outside the 18-yard area into the bottom right corner of the net for a 1-0 halftime advantage.
 
Carnegie Mellon doubled its advantage in the 66th minute, as Chang sent a through ball behind the Cortland defense to Bianco, who then slotted a shot low and into the right corner of the net.
 
Just minutes later, Chang sent a shot towards the top right corner but was denied by a leaping save from Rouse to turn the ball aside for a corner.
 
Cortland nearly got a goal in the final minute of play, but Vuotto's shot rolled left of the post after a poor defensive clearance attempt from Carnegie Mellon's goalkeeper.