Ithaca To Play Middlebury in NCAA First-Round Game on Wednesday
ITHACA’S INVITATION: The Ithaca College women’s lacrosse team (11-6) has been selected for the NCAA playoffs. The Bombers travel to Middlebury (10-5) Wednesday for a first-round game. The winner of Wednesday's game will travel to Hartford, Conn., for a four-team regional hosted by Trinity (Conn.) Saturday and Sunday. The Ithaca-Middlebury winner will face host Trinity (17-0) in one regional semifinal and the winner of Stevens Institute of Technology (15-3) and Bridgewater State (17-1) will face the winner of Bowdoin (14-3) and Babson (10-7) in the other regional semifinal at Trinity.
SERIES RESULTS: Ithaca faced Middlebury in its most recent NCAA playoff appearance, losing 19-3 in the 2008 regional semifinal at Middlebury. Ithaca is 0-1 all-time against Trinity (Conn.) and 2-5 against Stevens. The Bombers have never faced Bridgewater State, Bowdoin or Babson.
ITHACA VS. 2011 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: The Bombers have faced four other NCAA playoff teams this spring. The Bombers twice fell to Stevens by one goal, 11-10 in regular-season action and 10-9 in the Empire 8 championship game. Ithaca also lost a 10-6 season-opener to Brockport and non-conference games to Hamilton, 13-7, and Cortland, 17-7.
ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their ninth appearance in the NCAA playoffs; they have compiled a 1-8 record in those tournaments. Ithaca’s last NCAA tournament trip came in 2008. Ithaca lost 19-3 to Middleburg in a first-round game at Middlebury. The Bombers made the tournament in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons, head coach Karen Hollands’ first two years at Ithaca. The 2003 team lost 11-5 to Williams in a regional semifinal at Middlebury and a year later Ithaca lost 14-12 to Plymouth State in a regional semifinal hosted by Amherst. Ithaca made back-to-back NCAA appearances in 1997 and 1998, facing College of New Jersey and Trinity (Conn.) in those games. The Bombers also reached the national tournament in 1989 (facing William Smith) and 1993 (facing Franklin & Marshall). In each of Ithaca’s last six NCAA playoff appearances, the Bombers have played at a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) school: at Trinity (Conn.) in 1998, at Amherst in 2001 and 2004 and at Middlebury in 2003, 2008 and 2011.
THE 2011 NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Division III championship provides for a 31-team, single-elimination tournament. The 31 teams include 17 winners of conferences whose champions have been awarded automatic qualification, nine teams from those conferences who did not win their conference title (including Ithaca from the Empire 8 and Middlebury from the NESCAC) and five teams that are either independents or members of conferences whose champions do not receive automatic bids. Following 15 first-round games on Wednesday, four teams will host four-team regionals this weekend. The semifinals and championship will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22.
ITHACA LEADERS: Tallying its second straight 10-win season, Ithaca is led by junior Nicole Borisenok (Albany Academy for Girls/Watervliet) with 52 goals, while sophomore Tracy Rivas (East Meadow/East Meadow) adds 41 scores on the season. Rivas has dished out a team-high 14 assists and Borisenok has recorded 13. Junior Siobhan Sullivan (Franklin/Franklin, Mass.) has collected a team-best of 35 ground balls. She and Rivas share a team-high with 41 draws control victories each this season. Senior Abby Peterson (Mount Mansfield Union/Underhill, Vt.) spearheads the Bombers’ defensive efforts with 20 caused turnovers. Sophomore Jess Worthman (Hauppauge/Commack) is 11-6 in goal having stopped 133 shots for a save percentage of 45.7.
Complete Bracket