Ithaca Rolls Past Regis and Into NCAA 2nd Round

Ithaca Rolls Past Regis and Into NCAA 2nd Round

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HARTFORD, CONN.  — The Ithaca College women's lacrosse team advanced into the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament thanks to a convincing 24-2 win over Regis (Mass.) College Saturday afternoon at Sheppard Field on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Junior Morgan Cadwell scored three goals with two assists, freshman Danika Wagener added four goals with one assist, and senior Riley Marion recorded two goals with two assists to lift the Bombers (14-5) past the Pride (12-7).

Ithaca blanked Regis over the final 52 minutes for its first NCAA tournament win since a 9-8 victory against St. Mary's (Maryland) in 2001, and just the second in program history.

IC advances into the second round to face No. 7 Trinity (15-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Sheppard Field. 

The Bombers and the Bantams have only met once before, with Ithaca falling 13-6 in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament.

Marion won a game-most 11 draw controls and also caused three turnovers, Cadwell won three draws and caused two turnovers, and freshman Allison Panara, the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, scored three goals with two draw controls for IC.

Junior Gaby Berne and freshman Julia Silvestri each added two goals with an assist, while senior Mackenzie Robinson scored a pair of goals, and junior Morgan Racicot tallied one goal with one assist, three groundballs and two caused turnovers in the win.

Berne, Cadwell, Robinson, and sophomore Elizabeth Sauer each caused two turnovers as Ithaca pressured Regis into 22 turnovers. Ithaca enjoyed a 41-3 edge in shots (35-3 in shots on goal) and won 22 of 27 draw controls.

Regis took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Sam Salamone 1:46 into the contest, but four different Bombers scored goals to give IC a 4-1 lead. Marion fed Byrne for the tying goal a few seconds after Regis took the lead, and Marion, Cadwell, and Panara added goals during a 3-0 run over a span of 1:42. 

Emily Kosak scored to trim the Bomber lead to 4-2 with 21:57 remaining in the opening half, but Ithaca's stout defense would clamp down and hold the Pride scoreless over the final 51:57.

IC closed the first on a 12-0 run as Cadwell, Silvestri, Wagener pumped in two goals apiece to help Ithaca take a 16-2 lead into halftime. The Bombers scored eight goals in a span of 9:18 to pull away and win for the 13th time in 16 games.

Junior Emily Ross and sophomore Kimberly Presuto combined to hold Regis to one shot over the final 52 minutes.

Ithaca faces a good challenge in a Trinity squad that fell in the NESCAC championship.

Trinity leads the NESCAC in scoring defense with a 6.35 GAA (14th in nation) and ranks second in caused turnovers with 184, while senior goalkeeper Emily Mooney tops the conference rankings in GAA at 5.23.  Martha Griffin, the 2015 and 2016 NESCAC Player of the Year, averages 2.50 goals per game (45 total) and 3.44 points per game (62 points) while Clare Lyne has added 44 goals (5th in NESCAC).