Runyon becomes Ithaca's all-time leader for career goals
ITHACA, N.Y. – The 10
th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team returned to the friendly confines of Higgins Stadium on Friday afternoon when it welcomed SUNY Geneseo for a non-conference tilt. The Bombers snapped a three-game losing streak in the overall series between the two programs, pulling away in the second half for an 8-4 victory. The win improves Ithaca's record to 9-2 on the year heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
The highlight of the day came from fifth-year senior attacker
Ally Runyon, who became the program's all-time leader for career goals with a three-goal effort to pace the IC offense. Entering the game sitting one goal behind former record holder Tracy Rivas '14, Runyon's hat trick brings her career total to 186 scoring tallies. The three scores also elevate Runyon to third-place on the program's career-point list with 218, passing Nicole Borisenok '12 (217).
Sophomore
Danika Wagener also had a game to remember, scoring a game-and-season-high five points on two goals and three assists. It was her second multi-goal game of the season, while the three assists equaled her previous season high, which she set against Hartwick earlier this year.
Senior midfielder
Gaby Berne added two points on a goal and an assist. Senior midfielder
Morgan Cadwell and freshman attacker
Bailey Herr each chipped in one goal, while
Allie Panara capped the point scoring with one assist.
Defensively, the Bombers were stifling for a SUNY Geneseo attack that has a variety of dangerous attacking options. Senior midfielder
Olivia Oppenheim was a terror for the Knights, registering five caused turnovers and two ground-balls in a clinical effort. Sophomore defender
Reid Simoncini posted two caused turnovers and one grounder, while Runyon also forced a single Geneseo miscue. Freshman defender
Becky Mehorter was also very active, corralling three ground-balls in the game.
Junior goalie
Kimberly Presuto got the nod in the Ithaca cage and was stellar in the game. She finished with nine saves, while she added a caused turnover and three ground-balls. Her four goals allowed were her lowest total for a game in which she has played the full 60 minutes this season. The victory improves her record to 7-2 on the year.
With temperatures hovering around freezing and intermittent flurries swirling with blustery winds on South Hill, it came as no surprise that offense was at a premium in the game. Despite the inhospitable weather, the Bombers came out firing on all cylinders to snag an early two-goal advantage.
Runyon got the Bombers on the board first, tying the all-time record of Rivas with her 184
th career goal just 51-seconds into the game. With IC working with a player-advantage due to a Tessa Doody yellow card incurred on the opening draw of the contest, Panara found Runyon streaking towards goal. The senior whipped a bounce shot past Geneseo keeper Tess McFadden to make it 1-0. Berne doubled Ithaca's lead off a free-position shot that went top-shelf exactly one-minute later.
The Knights clamped down from there, allowing the Bombers just one more goal in the half. The visitors got on the board with an Erin Cregan free-position goal with 24:48 left in the half. Geneseo's Doody then equalized the game with 15:18 left in the half, making a great cut from the right goal line extended to beat her marker and rifle home a sneaky shot past Presuto.
Wagener and Herr combined on a nifty play to reestablish the Ithaca lead with 8:41 left in the half. With Wagener working from the 'X' she provided a pin-point feed through traffic to Herr, who was battling for position just outside the Geneseo crease. The freshman finished off the one-two passing play with a quick shot into the upper-right of the cage to make it 3-2. However, the lead last only 43-seconds as the Knights' Rachel Fisher took a feed from Hannah Millich off a free-position at the left of the fan and fired home a shot to tie the contest at 3-3. The score would remain the same into halftime.
The turning point in the contest came early in the second half. Less than two minutes into the second stanza, Ithaca found itself down two players, as senior
Morgan Racicot and Panara accrued yellow cards 20-seconds apart, giving the Knights a huge opportunity to snag their first lead. Presuto stood tall during the hectic two-minute stretch, denying a Geneseo free-position opportunity from Kathleen DePillo to keep the game deadlocked.
The Bombers carried that momentum further into the half, scoring three times in the span of 2:55 to grab command of the game. Cadwell broke the tie with a free-position goal from the left-side of the fan with 22:13 remaining. Runyon scored her record-breaking goal 32-seconds after Cadwell's goal, taking a feed from Wagener and whipping another bounce shot into the lower right of the cage. Runyon capped the spurt with her hat-trick goal with 19:18 left, again capitalizing off a Wagener feed. The hat trick brings her season total to 44 scores and 50 points through 11 contests this season. It is the third time that Runyon has reached 50 points in a season during her career.
Wagener ensured the Ithaca would have more than enough offense to keep Geneseo at bay. She tallied her first of the game to make the score 7-3 with 16:48 to go, firing a laser into the bottom right of the cage as she tumbled to the turf. Although Millich got one back for the Knights with a fantastic individual effort, Wagener answered with another goal off a feed from Berne 35-seconds later. The 8-4 lead was more than enough, as Ithaca's defense stiffened down the stretch.