Pine Valley, N.Y. – The Ithaca field hockey team clinched a berth in the Empire 8 Championships with a 5-0 victory at Elmira (1-15, 0-6 Empire 8) to close out its regular season Saturday. The Bombers (8-8) finished 3-3 in the Empire 8, good for fourth place in the standings, and will face top-seeded and 15th ranked Stevens Institute of Technology in the semifinals Saturday.

Ithaca started strongly against Elmira, as sophomore Christine Franz (West Windsor-Plainsboro/Plainsboro, N.J.) scored 1:51 into the contest off a penalty corner. The goal was assisted by sophomore Katherine Brown (Akron/Akron). The lead doubled in the eighth minute as Brown scored off an assist from junior Caitlin Harte (Red Hook/Clermont).

Annie Onzik (Bisop O'Reilly/Shavertown, Pa.) scored her first goal of the game, unassisted, in the 22nd minute and senior Elyse Green (Shawnee/Medford, N.J.) scored with eight seconds remaining in the first half on an assist from Brown. It was Brown's second assist and fourth point of the game. She now has 13 points on the season, which ranks third on the Bombers in scoring.

Onzik's second goal of the game was the only goal of the second half, an unassisted tally in the 44th minute. Onzik has seven goals on the year which ranks second among all Ithaca players.

Junior goalkeeper Courtney Dowell (Massapequa/Massapequa) started and earned her sixth victory of the season. She made three saves in 53 minutes of action. Junior Chelsea Welsh (Scotia-Glenville/Scotia) played the last 17 minutes and made two saves to preserve the team's shutout.

The game time for Saturday's Empire 8 semifinal has not been announced.

Box Score