Ithaca Advances In NCAA Tournament With 3-1 Win
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Ithaca College women's soccer team defeated Springfield Saturday afternoon, dropping the Pride by a score of 3-1 at Cole Field on the campus of Williams College. The win sends Ithaca to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the ninth-straight season the Bombers have opened NCAA postseason play with a victory. Ithaca now sits at 15-3-1 on the season.
Junior
Kelsey King scored twice for the Bombers, while fellow junior
Sarah Woychick added one score in the victory. Goalkeeper
Beth Coppolecchia stopped 11-of-12 shots, marking a new season high. Springfield finished the game with a 27-17 shot advantage, while Ithaca held a slight edge with six corner kicks to the Pride's four.
Springfield got on the board early, jumping out to a 1-0 lead with a goal at 18:46 of the opening half. After sustained pressure in the Bombers' defensive zone, the Pride caused a turnover in the top of the box. Springfield took advantage on the play, beating Coppolecchia to give the Pride the advantage.
The Bombers answered right back, evening the contest in the 40th minute. Woychick took possession of the ball at midfield, and snuck down the far side with one player to beat. Woychick turned the corner, creating space for a clean shot on goal. Woychick shot low left, deflecting the ball off of a Springfield back on an attempted shot block. Woychick's shot just crossed the line, marking her eighth goal of the season.
Ithaca pulled ahead just four minutes later, putting the score at 2-1 in favor of the Bombers. Senior
Jessie Warren fed King on the far side, before King cut to the middle and fired a shot. King sent the ball just under the cross bar for her 13th goal of the season, giving Ithaca the 2-1 lead just before the break.
King added an insurance goal in the 80th minute, putting the score at 3-1. King took a pass from sophomore
Holly Niemiec, and made a move towards the center of the goal mouth. King fired a shot on net, just grazing the keeper's hands. The shot banked off the inside of the post, crossing the line for King's second goal of the game.
Coppolecchia and the rest of the Bomber defense stood strong for the remainder of the contest, giving Ithaca the 3-1 win and the right to play Williams in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Williams reached the regional final with a 2-0 win over Lasell earlier in the day. Sunday's contest is set to start at 1 p.m.
Boxscore (HTML)