Last Minute Overtime Goal by Runyon Sends Ithaca to NCAA Third Round
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The often-spoke sport's cliché of "game of inches and split-seconds" all came to fruition in one magical moment for Ithaca College women's lacrosse in Middletown, Conn., on Sunday afternoon. Fifth-year senior attacker
Ally Runyon scored her fifth goal of the game with two-seconds remaining in overtime to send the IC women on to the NCAA Third Round and a date with Salisbury next weekend. The goal capped a thrilling comeback, as Ithaca powered past Wesleyan University 11-10 at Smith Field.
With the game tied at 10-10 at the end of regulation, the host Cardinals won the opening draw of the first overtime period to have an opportunity to end the game. With time ticking down in the three-minute session, Wesleyan's Abigail Horst made a hard center drive towards the Ithaca cage and fired a shot through traffic that struck the base of the left post with 15-seconds to play. After a mad scramble ensued, Ithaca goalie
Kimberly Presuto was able to corral possession and launched a quick counter-attack in the final seconds.
Presuto quick upped a pass to senior midfielder
Morgan Cadwell, who turned and fired a pass to Runyon who took off on a beeline to the Cardinals' zone. On a dead sprint, she fired a laser into the bottom left corner of the cage with exactly two-seconds left on the clock, before being mobbed by her celebratory teammates to the right of the Wesleyan net.
"My mind went blank and all I could think about was shooting it as hard as I could," Runyon said. The picture-perfect shot could not have been more true in pace or placement.
The goal capped a furious comeback effort for an Ithaca College squad that has shown incredible resilience throughout this amazing 2017 campaign. The Bombers trailed by four goals two separate times in the opening half, while they led for a grand total of 3:14 in the game prior to Runyon's ultimate game-winner.
Not only was it a special moment, but also a historic one for the Ithaca women's laxers. It was only the third NCAA Tournament win in program history, while it sent Ithaca to the NCAA Third Round for the first time in program history.
Runyon finished with a game-high five goals in the game to pace the Bombers. Cadwell also netted a hat trick in a three-point effort to help IC make the comeback. Seniors
Gaby Berne and
Morgan Racicot, as well as sophomore
Maeve Cambria added one scoring strike apiece for IC, while sophomore
Allie Panara rounded out the point scoring with a pair of assists.
Defensively, junior
Elizabeth Sauer played an excellent game, finishing with three caused turnovers and three ground-balls. Junior
Molly Long, senior
Olivia Oppenheim and sophomore
Erin McGee each notched one caused turnover in the win.
Junior goalie
Kimberly Presuto picked up her 12
th victory of the season, making eight saves in the game. Several of the stops came during crucial moments, while her outlet pass sparked the game-winning.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening 10 minutes of the game, capitalizing on some early miscues by a Bombers squad that showed some early jitters. IC committed seven turnovers in first stretch of the game, while its lone goal came on a free-position score from Runyon.
Wesleyan added its fourth straight goal of the half with 16:23 to go in the frame, as Liana Mathias bullied her way through two Ithaca defenders, before ripping a shot upstairs on Presuto. The goal extended the lead to 5-1, prompting head coach
Karrie Moore to call a timeout to regroup.
Moore's tactic worked, as Ithaca battled back into the game with four of the next five goals to cut the deficit to a single goal with under five minutes remaining. Cadwell snapped the Cardinals scoring run when she rung up a free-position goal into the lower right of the cage to make it 5-2 with 15:44 left in the half. However, the home side answered back 3:20 later when Meredith Smith powered her way to the cage to re-up the four-goal lead.
The Bombers climbed back into the game with three straight goals over a 4:09 stretch to pull within a goal at 6-5 with 4:15 to play in the half. A penalty sparked the run, as
Gaby Berne scored on a woman-up opportunity to pull back within three goals with 8:24 to go. Panara started the play sliding down the right side of the attacking fan, before threading a pass through three Wesleyan defenders to Berne, who was wide open on the Cardinals' doorstep. She turned and fired a shot into the cage.
Ithaca scored twice over a 1:33 span to cut the deficit to 6-5. Runyon scored her second of the half with 5:48 remaining in the half, again capitalizing on a precision feed from Panara who notched her second assist of the frame. Runyon cut across the attacking fan and launched a howitzer into the left side netting to make it 6-4. Cambria added a goal just over a minute later, making an excellent fake at the left post and lifting an off-balanced shot into a vacated cage.
The Cardinals stemmed the Ithaca charge when Wesleyan's Anotonia Kaz made a physical play to power across the attacking zone from left-to-right, before scoring top-shelf to make it 7-5 with 2:16 to play in the half. The score remained the same heading into the break, but Ithaca had certainly gained a foothold in the contest.
The Bombers continued its momentum to begin the second session. Although they failed to capitalize on a carry-over yellow card, IC got a third woman-up opportunity quickly thereafter and converted to again cut the deficit to one goal for the second time in the game with 25:27 to play. Cadwell scored her second goal of the contest, cutting right-to-left across the attacking fan and firing a laser into the upper right.
The Bombers scored three of the next four goals in the game to take their first lead of the game with 8:28 to play. Trailing 8-6, IC scored three straight to pull ahead in the contest.
First, Runyon scored her third of the game to close back within a goal with 15:25 to play. She launched a shot just as she was closed down by a Wesleyan defender, the ball glanced off the Cardinals' net-minder and had just enough momentum to crawl over the goal line.
Cadwell fired home her hat-trick tally 1:34 later, to pull Ithaca level for the first time since 1-1 early in the game. Racicot gave IC its first lead with 8:28 to play, lifting a sneaky scoop shot on a free-position to make it 9-8. It was an unbelievable play by the senior, as she took one step and fired a rising shot just under the crossbar.
After Wesleyan tied the game just over a minute later, the Bombers again pulled ahead when Runyon scored her fourth goal of the game with 3:16 to play. It was Ithaca's fourth free-position goal of the game.
Unfortunately, Ithaca could not hold off the Cardinals down the stretch. Although IC had a spectacular defensive possession, Wesleyan's Liana Mathias was able to gain just enough space to sneak a shovel shot just inside the right post when it looked like Presuto had everything covered. The tying goal came with 1:26 to play. The Cardinals had a final chance to win the game in the waning moments, but Presuto came up with a large save as time expired to send the game to the extra-session, setting the stage for the thrilling finish.
The Bombers will face Salisbury University in the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament, which is set to played at Gettysburg College on Saturday, May 20. The Seagulls dispatched Hamilton College 7-5 in their Second Round match played this afternoon.