Ithaca Advances to 1st E8 Championship Game
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
ITHACA, N.Y. — For the first 48 minutes of Friday afternoon's Empire 8 field hockey semifinal, the fourth-seeded Washington and Jefferson Presidents held the top-seeded Ithaca College Bombers scoreless.
Then in a span of 41 seconds, Ithaca's offense showed why the Bombers earned the right to host the conference tournament for the first time in program history.
Juniors
Cassie Schuttrumpf and
Colleen Keegan-Twombly scored goals 41 seconds apart in the second half as the Bombers (13-4) knocked off the Presidents (11-8) 2-0 Friday on the turf field at Higgins Stadium.
It was the first time Ithaca had won an Empire 8 postseason game in five tries, and the win lifts the Bombers into Saturday's 4 p.m. championship game.
Ithaca will play the winner of No. 2 St. John Fisher (12-6) and No. 3 Stevens (11-7) for the right to represent the Empire 8 in the NCAA Division III tournament.
"We're all very excited to play for an Empire 8 championship," said Schuttrumpf, who has scored 16 points on seven goals with two assists for the Bombers.
"This is the first time Ithaca has ever hosted the Empire 8 tournament so that alone is a big accomplishment, but being able to play tomorrow is such an honor and we're really looking forward to it."
"We're ecstatic; I don't even know how to describe my emotions right now," added Keegan-Twombly, who leads Ithaca with 33 points and 15 goals.
"We know that we really want that championship. We're hungry and we have the skills and the team to do it. Today we were able to overcome any obstacles we had on the field. W&J came out really tough today and the defense was great, but we overcame that and it's so exciting. This win shows what we're capable of."
Ithaca, which beat Washington & Jefferson 3-1 back on Sept. 5 at Higgins Stadium, enjoyed a 9-5 edge in shots, including 6-2 in shots on goal.
Schuttrumpf got the Bombers on the scoreboard in the 49
th minute. She ripped a back-handed shot towards the near post that sailed into the upper corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Then Keegan-Twombly got free from the defense and sent a shot into the upper corner of the near post for a 2-0 lead, which was more than enough for the stifling Ithaca defense.
"It was really big for us to score twice so quickly," Schuttrumpf said. "W&J came to play today and their team has improved immensely since we played them at the beginning of the season to now. We had to spark our offense immediately because they were dominating for a while. But once that spark was ignited, we did what we had to do and executed our offense. It felt great to get those two goals."
Junior
Katie Lass made two saves for the Bombers, who entered play with a 0.74 goals-against average, the sixth-stingiest mark in the nation among Division III programs.
With 5:45 remaining, Lauren Brown had the Presidents' best scoring opportunity, but Lass deflected the shot wide of goal to preserve the shutout.
"Our defense really gives us the confidence, starting with
Katie Lass," Keegan-Twombly said. "Our defense is so solid it really transitions all the way up through the field to midfielders and forwards, and that gets us going. At halftime we talked about making sure we were moving the ball and stepping to the passes, making sure we're not letting the defense step in front of us. Then we came out and executed."