ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca field hockey team (6-7, 2-3 Empire 8) defeated Utica (7-7, 3-2 Empire 8) 3-1 at home on Saturday. The Bombers are now 6-1 this year at Yavits Field, and handed the Pioneers just their second conference loss of the year.

Ithaca opened the scoring in the 20th minute as the play developed off a penalty corner. Junior Krista Fieselmann (Bridgewater-Raritan/Bridgewater, N.J.) played the ball in from the top of the circle to Annie Onzik (Bishop O'Reilly/Shavertown, Pa.), and Onzik tipped the ball to senior Elyse Green (Shawnee/Medford, N.J.) at the right post for the goal.

Utica answered the Ithaca goal just four minutes later, but the Bombers went ahead for good late in the first half. Freshman forward Kirsten Auer (Branford/Branford, Conn.) scored on a rebound in front after a shot from the left side.

Freshman Sofia Johnson (Holland Patent/Holland Patent) scored on a rebound of a Katherine Brown (Akron/Akron) shot in the second half to cap the scoring.

Ithaca held territorial advantage throughout the majority of the game, limiting the Pioneers to just three shots in the first 57 minutes. The Bombers didn't yield a penalty corner against until midway through the second half. Ithaca outshot Utica 20-10 and had a 12-4 advantage in penalty corners. Junior goalkeeper Courtney Dowell (Massapequa/Massapequa) made five saves for Ithaca and improved to 4-2 on the season.

The Bombers travel to nationally-ranked Cortland at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

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