Hoboken, N.J. – For the seventh time in the nine years of the Empire 8 Championship Tournament, the Ithaca women's lacrosse team is making an appearance in the semifinals. The third-seeded Bombers are slated to face second-seeded and 23rd-ranked Nazareth at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 7 at top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology. Live Stats and a live webcast will be available for the game. More information is available online.

Ithaca, who won the conference title in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2008, fell to the Golden Flyers, 18-9, in regular-season play. The teams are knotted in the all-time series at 9-9, though the Bombers own a 4-1 Empire 8 playoff record over Nazareth. Ithaca twice claimed the conference crown in victories over the Golden Flyers in 2003 and 2004, while Nazareth tallied one of its four championships with a victory over Ithaca in 2005. Ithaca won the most recent two semifinal meetings with Nazareth in 2008 and 2010 to advance to the Empire 8 title game.

Tallying its second straight 10-win season, Ithaca is led by junior Nicole Borisenok (Albany Academy for Girls/Watervliet) with 44 goals, while sophomore Tracy Rivas (East Meadow/East Meadow) adds 36 scores on the season. Both have dished out a team-high 12 assists. Junior Siobhan Sullivan (Franklin/Franklin, Mass.) and senior Abby Peterson (Mount Mansfield Union/Underhill, Vt.) have collected team-bests of 30 ground balls as Sullivan leads the Bombers with 39 draws and Rivas chips in 36. Peterson spearheads the Bombers' defensive efforts with 20 caused turnovers. Sophomore Jess Worthman (Hauppauge/Commack) is 10-5 in goal having stopped 120 shots for a save percentage of 45.5.

Saturday's winner will advance to Sunday's league championship game, which will also be played at Stevens at a time to be determined.