Oneonta, N.Y. – The Ithaca women's lacrosse team (6-3, 4-1 Empire 8) handled host Hartwick (5-4, 1-3 Empire 8), 16-8, on Sunday afternoon to win its 15th consecutive victory against the Hawks.

Improving to 35-9 all-time against Hartwick, the Bombers took an early 2-0 lead before the Hawks surged to knot the game at 2-2. Ithaca and Hartwick exchanged goals for a 3-3 score, but the Bombers would net 11 unanswered to end the half with a solid 14-3 advantage. Hartwick scored the first two and final three goals of the second half, but Ithaca broke up their offense with a pair of its own to maintain a steady advantage and claim its fourth victory out of its last five games.

Sophomore Kim Armbruster (Montville/Boonton, N.J.) recorded a team-best three goals, while sophomores Tracy Rivas (East Meadow/East Meadow) and Nikki Dahl (The Wellington School/Columbus, Ohio) added a pair each. Eleven other Bombers netted one goal each, including junior Nicole Borisenok (Albany Academy for Girls/Watervliet) who dished out a game-high four assists. Freshman Katie Long (Ithaca/Ithaca) scooped up a career- and game-high four ground balls during the game.

Senior Emily Finn (Bishop-Brady/Concord, N.H.) and Armbruster put the Bombers ahead 2-0 on Borisenok assists in the opening two minutes of play before the Hawks notched two goals of their own. Rivas awarded the Bombers a 3-2 edge with a score at 19:36, but Hartwick again answered.

Sophomore Michelle Avery (Brien McMahon/Norwalk, Conn.) tipped off an 11-0 run with a free position goal at 17:54. Rivas went unassisted just 15 seconds later before Borisenok found senior Rachel Maley (Newtown/Sandy Hook, Conn.) to take a 6-3 advantage at 11:19. Borisenok fed Armbruster at 9:47 to break-up a pair of Dahl scores, before Avery fed Borisenok to take a 10-3 gap with 6:40 remaining in the first frame.

Rivas found Armbruster at 5:26, with sophomore Sam Whitney (Portsmouth/Rye, N.H.) scoring on her own at 4:58, before junior Racquel Lividini (Mamaroneck/Mamaroneck) struck at 3:10 to instate a 10-goal lead and a running clock. Finn assisted sophomore Kaitlyn Hoffay (Ithaca/Ithaca) at the 1:49 mark to take a 14-3 advantage into intermission.

The Hawks sparked early in the second half to cut the gap to a single-digit deficit, 14-5, but the Bombers answered with two straight to reinstate the running clock. Lividini found freshman Maya Gebhardt (Cortland/Cortland) at 14:32 before freshman Becky Guzzo (C.W. Baker/Baldwinsville) netted her first collegiate goal at 12:45 for a 16-5 Ithaca advantage. The Hawks scored three in the final 10 minutes of action to finalize all scoring at 16-8.

Sophomore Jess Worthman (Hauppauge/Commack) collected the victory in goal making 10 stops for the Bombers.

Ithaca outshot Hartwick, 33-24, picked up 14 ground balls to the Hawks' 12 and won 16 of 26 draw controls.

The Bombers will next host Hamilton on Wednesday, April 13 in a 4 p.m. contest.

Box Score