Ithaca Rallies to Advance Into E8 Title Game
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior Riley Marion scored four second-half goals and finished with five goals as the nationally-ranked Ithaca College women's team rallied past Nazareth College 12-11 Saturday afternoon in an Empire 8 semifinal contest at Higgins Stadium.
Marion scored three times in a span of 7:30 in the second half as top-seeded Ithaca (13-4) rallied from a 7-5 halftime deficit by going on a 6-1 run to start the second.
Marion's final goal put Ithaca up 12-9 with 10:08 remaining. Nazareth (11-6) scored back-to-back goals to pull within one, but sophomore Kimberly Presuto made a big save with 1:51 remaining and Racicot tacked on an unassisted goal with four seconds remaining to clinch the win.
The Bombers, ranked 19th in the county in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association poll, advanced into the Empire 8 championship for the seventh straight season and are seeking their first conference title since 2008.
Ithaca will play No. 3 St. John Fisher (15-3) at 12 p.m. Sunday at Higgins Stadium in the championship. This will be the fifth straight year that Ithaca and Fisher have played for the conference title.
The winner of the Empire 8 tournament receives the conference's at-large berth into the NCAA Division III tournament.
"We played together really well today. We weren't playing that way in the first half so we all came together and said the only way we're going to win is if we play together and we did that in the second half," said Marion, who leads the team in goals scored (48) and is second on points (57).
"We had better movement on offense and we were working together to run our attack, and on defense we had better communication. We just needed to get our energy back up in the second half."
Junior Morgan Racicot finished with two goals and one assist, freshman Danika Wagener added one goal with two assists, and juniors Morgan Cadwell and Gaby Berne added two goals apiece as Ithaca won for the 12th time in 14 games.
Freshman Allison Panara added one goal with one assist and also won four draw controls, and Marion won three draws for the Bombers.
Wagener scooped up a game-high six groundballs as Ithaca enjoyed a 26-10 edge in groundballs. Presuto came on halfway through the opener and made six saves to improve her record to 2-1.
Sophomore Elizabeth Sauer caused four turnovers with three groundballs and sophomore Molly Long caused three turnovers in the win.
Taking on the Golden Flyers (11-6), Ithaca never led in the opening half and trailed 7-5 at halftime. Nazareth raced out to leads of 2-0 while holding IC scoreless for nearly the first 13 minutes.
Nazareth led 4-2, 5-3, 6-4, and 7-5 in the first half, but the Bombers responded by scoring the first four goals of the second. Cadwell scored on a free-position shot 3:20 into the half, and Wagener fed Berne for the equalizer two minutes later.
Marion tacked on back-to-back goals 2:31 apart for a 9-7 IC lead with 21:18 remaining. The Golden Flyers pulled within one on Haley DeVona's goal with 20:11 to play.
Marion and Wagener pumped in goals 1:10 apart to give IC an 11-8 lead, and Racicot set up Marion for her fifth and final goal for a 12-9 lead with 10:08 to play.
Nazareth held Ithaca scoreless for 10 minutes while scoring a pair of goals, but Presuto and the Bomber defense made the lead hold up.
"We are ecstatic to be playing for the title. I'm proud of each and every one of us for playing together to get here," Sauer said. "Tomorrow we're going to go out there and give it our all. It's going to be a really hard game and whoever wins, it is going to be a battle."
Up next is a rematch with Fisher, with a berth in the NCAA tournament on the line. Ithaca defeated Fisher 12-11 April 30 on Senior Day to wrap up the Empire 8 regular-season championship.
"We just have to stick together and play our game. All of us want this (championship) so badly and it would mean everything to win it," Marion said. "This is what we want every year and this is the last chance for the seniors to accomplish this so it would mean everything."