HOBOKEN, N.J. – The third-seeded Ithaca College women's soccer team fell in overtime to nationally-ranked and top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-2, on Saturday in the title game of the 2016 Empire 8 Championship at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J.

The loss moved Ithaca's season mark to 11-5-2 while the Ducks improved to 18-1-0 with the win and earned the Empire 8's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship, which is slated to begin next weekend.

Ithaca got on the board first 11th minute when Sarah Pirnie sent a pass to senior Megan Nash in the middle of the field just outside of the 18-yard box. Nash pushed the ball to her right and unleashed a strike past Stevens' keeper and into the top right corner to make it a 1-0 lead in the Bombers' favor.

The lead would be short-lived, however, as the Ducks notched the equalizer less than a minute later after burying a rebound into an open net to tie things up at one goal apiece.

After swapping ends of the field over the next several minutes, Stevens would take a 2-1 lead in the 28th minute with a short pass inside the box that just snuck past Stacey DiGiorgio's outstretched arms.

Trailing by a goal, the Bombers continued to assert themselves on the offensive end of the pitch.  Their persistence paid off in the 37th minute as Nash's shot was redirected into the corner of the goal by sophomore Shoshana Bedrosian to knot things up at 2-2.

In the second half of play, the Ducks had several scoring chances, but the Bombers' backline of Aimee Chimera, Lindsey Parkins, Kendall Cirella and Caroline Matos cleared the ball each time to preserve the tie.  Stevens' best chance came in the 82nd minute when a corner kick landed in the middle of the box before DiGiorgio dove into traffic to snag the loose ball and end the threat.

Ithaca also had an opportunity to put the game away in regulation when Jess Demczar sent a corner into the box in the 88th minute that Nash headed wide.  The Bombers earned another corner in the final 30 seconds of play, but were unable to score the difference-maker as both teams readied for an overtime period.

As the extra period got underway, Holly Niemiec nearly sent the Ducks packing as her shot was aimed to the far post but Stevens' keeper dove to her left to come up with the big save. 

Just one minute later, the Ducks took the ball up the side and into the box before dumping it off for a chip shot in front of the Bombers' goal for the 3-2 win.

DiGiorgio was tagged with the loss and finished her season at 11-5-2.  The Utica native made a career-high 13 saves in 93 minutes of play.

Ithaca took 15 shots overall and had five corner kicks throughout the contest.  Nash had four shots while Jocelyn Ravesi had three.  Jess Demczar and Niemiec each had two shots while Taylor Baranowsky, Cirella, Bedrosian and Jordyn Haynes each took one overall.  For their efforts, Chimera, Baranowsky and Nash were each named to the All-Tournament Team.  

The Bombers will learn whether they've earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship during the NCAA Selection Show, which airs at 1:30 p.m. on Monday.