Ithaca Women's Soccer Team Headed Back To NCAA Playoffs
The Ithaca College women’s soccer team (12-4-1) has been selected for the NCAA playoffs. The Bombers, regular-season champions of the Empire 8, received an at-large bid to the NCAA championship tournament and will compete in a four-team regional this weekend at New Jersey. Ithaca takes on Springfield (15-4-0) at 1:30 p.m. in the second of Saturday’s semifinals, with the host Lions (16-2-1) facing Christopher Newport (16-4-1) at 11 a.m. in the other. The regional final is scheduled for Sunday at a time to be announced.
SERIES RESULTS: The Bombers have never faced Springfield or Christopher Newport. Ithaca has played New Jersey five four times, posting a 1-4-0 record, with four meetings in the NCAA playoffs (in 1991 the defending national champion Bombers beat host Trenton State 1-0 in the quarterfinals on their way to a second straight NCAA title; in 1996 the Lions posted a 2-0 win in the quarterfinals; in 1998 TCNJ beat host Ithaca 2-0 in the national semifinals; last year the Lions beat Ithaca 1-0 in the quarterfinals at Williams).
ITHACA VS. 2010 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: The Bombers faced three NCAA playoff teams this fall, going 2-2-0. Ithaca beat Plattsburgh 5-1, split with Stevens (winning 2-1 and losing 2-0) and lost 1-0 to Oneonta.
ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their 21st appearance in the NCAA playoffs; no school has made more (William Smith has also made 21). The last 14 playoff bids have come under Mindy Quigg. Ithaca is 26-15-8 in NCAA playoff competition (five of the eight ties resulted in the Bombers advancing on penalty kicks; in the other three, Ithaca was eliminated in penalty kicks). The program’s four straight trips to the NCAA semifinals from 1988 through 1991 (a streak matched by two other teams) was highlighted by consecutive national titles in 1990 and 1991. Last year Ithaca reached the national quarterfinals for the third straight season, topping Muhlenberg 1-0, advancing 5-4 in penalty kicks past William Smith after a scoreless tie and beating Rowan 2-1 before losing 1-0 to New Jersey.
THE 2010 NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Division III championship provides for a 63-team, single-elimination tournament that includes 42 winners of conferences whose champions earn automatic qualification (including New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Confernece titlist Springfield; New Jersey, who received the New Jersey Athletic Confernece’s automatic bid, and USA South Atlantic Conference champion Christopher Newport), 20 teams from those conferences who did not win their conference title (including Ithaca, who lost in the Empire 8 semifinals) and one team that is either an independent or a member of a conference whose champion do not receive automatic bids. Following this weekend’s regional round, four schools will host four-team sectionals, to be held Nov. 19-21. The four sectional winners advance to the semifinals and final, Dec. 4 and 5. All games will be played on the campuses of participating institutions until the “final four”, which will be held at Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas.
ITHACA LEADERS: The Bombers are making their 21st appearance in the NCAA playoffs – no school has made more – and eighth in a row. They’ve outscored their opponents 47-9 this fall, allowing less than six shots per game. Sophomore Rachael Palladino (Lansing/Lansing), the Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Year has set school records with 20 goals and five assists this season. Freshman forward Jackie Rodabaugh (Central Mountain/Mill Hall, Pa.), a second-team Empire 8 all-star, has 22 points on seven goals and eight assists. Freshman forward Ellyn Grant-Keane (Lansing/Lansing), who has 10 points, is tied with Rodabaugh for the team lead in assists. Sophomore midfielders Caroline Jastremski (Notre Dame Academy/Staten Island) and Julie Winn (Sutton/Sutton, Mass.) have scored 14 and 13 points, respectively. Winn is a first-team Empire 8 all-star and Jastremski was named to the second team. Junior midfielder Megan Trager (Sharon/Sharon, Mass.), who received honorable mention to the all-conference team, has 10 points on the year. Sophomore Megan Palladino (Lansing/Lansing), a first-team all-conference pick, anchors a Bomber defense that allowed more than one goal in just one game all season. Backs Andrea Janda (Sterling/West Boylston, Mass.), a senior, and graduate student Liz Masucci (New Providence/New Providence, N.J.) both earned all-conference honors along with senior goalkeeper Jessica Platt (Monument Mountain/New Marlborough, Mass.). Platt is 9-2-1 this season with seven shutouts (including four solo efforts) and a 0.43 goals-against average.
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