Since its installation as a varsity sport in 1969, the women’s lacrosse team has been a steady contributor to Ithaca College’s athletic tradition. In 56 seasons, the program owns a 533-277-3 overall record, good for a .633 winning percentage. In 1999, Ithaca became the third Division III school to play as many as 400 games.
The first four lacrosse seasons at Ithaca were extremely successful. The team posted three consecutive 4-0 records during the 1969, 1970 and 1971 seasons. The Bombers then won their first three games in 1972 before falling to eastern power Lock Haven. Coach Nancy Hicks guided the team to a perfect record during the inaugural season and again in 1971, and Joan Silken coached the 1970 team.
Sarah Rich took over in 1973 and coached the team through the 1978 season. She led the Bombers to their first two New York State Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NYSAIAW) tournament appearances, and Ithaca finished second in 1977 and fourth the following year.
In 1980 the Bombers had one of their most successful years. Coach Pat Quinn guided Ithaca to a 13-2 record and the program’s first New York State women’s lacrosse title. The 13 victories marked the beginning of three straight seasons of double-figure win totals and set a record for wins in a season that stood for 21 years.
The 1980 season was the beginning of six straight winning seasons. In 1981, coach Andrea Golden’s initial season included a 12-2 record and a trip to the program’s first AIAW Division II championship playoff. In 1982, Golden led the Bombers to an 11-3 mark and the team’s second New York State title in three years. The team also placed fourth at the AIAW Division II tournament, where Shawn Benoliel scored an AIAW tournament record 10 goals against Northeastern.
The team had an overall mark of 64-18 from 1980 to 1985, a winning percentage of .780. During that six-year stretch, some of the program’s greatest players were on the field. Benoliel, a 2003 inductee into Ithaca’s Athletic Hall of Fame who held the program’s career scoring record for 20 seasons, and all-Americans Janet Eppinger and Leslie Murphy paced the offense, while goalies Paula Majeski and Andrea Norton anchored the defense.
In 1988 and 1989 the team captured back-to-back ECAC championships. The Bombers went on to participate in their first NCAA playoff in 1989. Amy Ayers, Debbie Deaver and Mary Kelly Rayel consistently led the offense during those championship runs.
In 1993 Golden guided the team to a 10-4 mark and another appearance in the NCAA tournament. The team was led by two-time academic all-American Kenja Ackerman and all-Americans Lisa Feinstein and Julie Stone, with Stone setting a school record, which still stands, with 84 points that season. Following her graduation, she became the first Ithaca player to earn a spot on the U.S. Developmental Team. Golden left following the 1995 season, with a career record of 123-86.
Piep van Heuven took over as head coach in 1996 and led Ithaca to postseason play in each of her six seasons. In 1996 the Bombers placed third in the NYSWCAA tournament and reached the ECAC title game. That team was led by JoAnn Binko, who posted the program’s second-best (now fifth) single-season scoring total (71 points). She ranks ninth in career points (171). In 1997 Ithaca returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years, after dropping a one-goal decision to William Smith in the NYSWCAA finals. A year later, the Bombers made a second straight trip to the NCAA playoffs. Seniors Allison Doyle (159 points) and Heather Stafford (151 points) finished their careers third and fourth, respectively, on Ithaca’s career scoring list.
In 1999 All-Americans Jenna Gruben and Brooke Andrews helped lead the Bombers to the championship game of the ECAC Mid-Atlantic playoffs. The following spring Hicks, Rich and Leslie (Murphy) Jones were inducted into Ithaca’s Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2000 the defense of All-Americans Andrews and Becky Karver led Ithaca to a record-tying 13 wins and the program’s third ECAC title.
In 2001 Andrews and Karver capped their careers by leading Ithaca to a school-record 15 wins, the Empire 8 title and the program’s first state title since 1982. Competing in the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 1998, Ithaca topped St. Mary’s (Md.), 9-8, in the first round—the school’s first win in NCAA playoff competition—before losing to eventual runner-up Amherst in the quarterfinals. In 2002 the Bombers won their second ECAC title in three years. Andrews and Karver were inducted into Ithaca’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.
In 2003, first-year Bomber coach Karen Hollands (a 2001 inductee into the Hall of Fame) led Ithaca back into the NCAA playoffs behind the play of All-Americans Jessica Welch (who became the school’s career scoring leader), Dayna Johnson and Michelle Schlegel. A year later, Schlegel broke Welch’s year-old scoring record as the Bombers reached the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. Schlegel’s points record of 248 stood until 2013.
In 2008, the Bombers, seeded fourth in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament, stunned top-seeded Nazareth 8-5 in a conference semifinal. In the championship game, Kylie McClure scored with 48 seconds to play to break an 11-11 tie and give Ithaca the program's first Empire 8 title since 2004 and a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four seasons.
Becky Bedard, a 2009 graduate, ranks 19th in the NCAA record books with 2.24 assists per game. She finished her career as the all-time Ithaca assists leader with 121.
Ithaca returned to the Empire 8 title game in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 with seven consecutive 10-win seasons. Despite not reaching the Empire 8 Championship in 2017, Ithaca still recorded an eighth consecutive 10-win season. The Bombers made the program’s ninth, tenth, and eleventh appearances in the NCAA tournament in 2011, 2016, and 2017. Led by Nicole Borisenok and Tracy Rivas, the 2012 squad pieced together a school-record tying 10-game win streak as they powered to a 13-4 season. Borisenok finished her career ranked second in career goals and points at the time with 161 and 217, respectively. In 2013, Tracy Rivas rewrote several school records. She became the school record holder in career points (251) and goals (184), and ranked fourth in assists (67) upon graduation. Rivas’ 80 points as a junior were the second-most single-season points all-time and her 57 goals in 2013 are the third-most in a single season at the time. The Bombers' success after the departure of Borisenok and Rivas was led by Ally Runyon, who amassed 252 career points from 2013-2017, including a program record 215 goals. Runyon's 84-point season in 2017 currently sits tied for fourth in program history for points in a season and her 73 goals that same year is currently second in program history.
The 2018 campaign marked the beginning of a new era for Ithaca, as third-tear head coach Karrie Moore led the Bombers into their inaugural season in the Liberty League. Led by an experienced group of juniors and seniors who has been to two straight NCAA Tournaments, Ithaca finished the regular season 13-4, including a 9-1 mark in Liberty League play, and earned the No. 2 seed in the Liberty League Tournament, defeating RIT in the semifinals before losing to long-time rival William Smith to finish the season at 14-5. In 2019, the Bombers came out with just as much drive, finishing the regular season 12-5 for a 10th-consecutive 10-win season. Ithaca again advanced to the Liberty League Championship, losing in heart-breaking fashion again to William Smith, but this time the Bombers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Meredith before losing to No. 2 Washington & Lee. The 14-7 final mark was the fourth consecutive 14-win season for the Bombers, and it was led by multiple players whose names sit high up in the record books, including Allie Panara, Elizabeth Rice, and Bailey Herr.
With Herr returning and a large, experienced junior class, Ithaca jumped out to a 5-0 record in the 2020 season, including four wins over ranked opponents. All of that momentum came to a stunning halt as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world and forced the cancelation of the remainder of the season. Hungry to prove that the start to the 2020 season was not a fluke, the 2021 team picked up right where they left off. Led by a record-setting campaign by Jacqui Hallack, Ithaca finished the regular season 11-0 and earned the No. 1 seed in the Liberty League Tournament for the first time. The Bombers handily defeated St. Lawrence before losing to William Smith for the third consecutive Liberty League Championship. The Bombers managed to earn one of just three at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, where they made sure to prove they belonged. Ithaca handled previously unbeaten Notre Dame of Maryland, 23-1, and then pulled off the upset of then-No. 2 Washington & Lee on their home field, 16-11. The two NCAA Tournament wins were the first time in program history that the Bombers won two NCAA Tournament games in a single season. The magic of the 2021 campaign ran out against eventual national champion Salisbury in the NCAA Quarterfinals, just the second time Ithaca had reached that stage of the tournament. Hallack set the program record for goals in one season with 79, and did so in three games fewer than Allie Panara's previous record of 73. Hallack registered 95 points on the season, good for second in program history behind Herr's 97 points in 2019, though Hallack reached her mark in five fewer games. The record-breaking season earned Hallack a plethora of awards, capped off by being named the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association National Midfielder of the Year at the Division III level. Hallack finished her career second in program history in goals with 186, and seventh in points with 214.
The success from the 2021 season carried over the 2002 despite the loss and many key players, as the Bombers posted a program record with 17 victories and reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament once again. IC went 17-4 on the season with all four losses coming by a goal in each contest. The Bombers finished the season ranked No. 10 in the country after exiting the tournament against Franklin & Marshall, 12-11. IC hosted its first NCAA contest in more than 20 years as the Bombers downed Cabrini, 19-9, in the second round. Three players on the team - Rachel Rosenberg, Caroline Wise and Maizy Veitch - were named All-Americans. Rosenberg was also named the Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year, while Veitch set a new school record for points in a season with 105 and Wise established a new standard in draw controls with 203, which led the nation and ranks fifth all-time in Division III history.
In 2023, Ithaca would go 12-8 and reached the Liberty League championship game. The Bombers were ranked within the top 15 in the IWLCA poll for most of the season as well and reached 500 program victories. Karrie Moore also snagged her 100th career win during the year. Caroline Wise and Maizy Veitch were named USA Lacrosse Magazine All-Americans for the second consecutive season.
The 2024 season was one for the record books as the Bombers went 18-2 and reached the third round of the NCAA Championship. Ithaca won its first-ever Liberty League title and set a new school record with 18 victories, including a stretch of 15 straight wins. Caroline Wise surpassed 500 career draw wins, while Lexi Held notched her 500th career save and Maizy Veitch set the program's all-time mark for career points with 279. All three of them, along with Sydney Phillips, were named All-Americans. IC finished the season ranked No. 12 in the IWLCA poll as Karrie Moore became the all-time winningest coach.
Ithaca repeated as Liberty League champions in 2025 as the Bombers won three games at home in the tournament. IC finished the season with a 14-7 record, which concluded in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship.
