Women's Lacrosse | 5/8/2016 10:53:00 PM
NCAA DIVISION III BRACKET
ITHACA, N.Y.  — The Ithaca College women's lacrosse team is heading back to the NCAA Division III tournament after securing an at-large berth.
Ithaca (13-5), which lost to St. John Fisher College Sunday afternoon in the Empire 8 championship, will play Regis (Mass.) College in a first-round game Saturday at Trinity (Conn.) College in Hartford, Conn.
This is the Bombers' 10th appearance all-time in the NCAA tournament, and first since 2011, when Ithaca fell to Middlebury 14-7 in the first round.
Regis (12-6) won the New England Collegiate Conference championship with a 16-8 victory over Southern Vermont.
The winner of the Ithaca/Regis game advances to play Trinity (15-3) Sunday in a second-round game at Trinity.
Ithaca, ranked 19th in the county in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association poll, was seeking its first conference title since 2008 but came up short against Fisher, falling 9-8 in overtime. It was just the third loss in 15 games for the Bombers.
Ithaca is outscoring opponents 13.22 to 8.50 on the year and is led by junior
Morgan Racicot (40 goals, 29 assists), senior
Riley Marion (49G, 9A), junior
Morgan Cadwell (39G, 7A), and freshman
Allison Panara (24G, 14A).
Marion (46), Cadwell (37), and Panara (27) led the Bombers in draw controls.Â
The Bombers boasted the top scoring offense in the Empire 8, and the third-stingiest defense (8.46 goals per game).
Sophomore
Elizabeth Sauer led the team with 37 caused turnovers, followed by classmate
Molly Long (27).
Sauer (33) and Long (30) led the team in groundballs, followed by junior
Gaby Berne (29), Racicot (28), freshman
Danika Wagener (26) and senior
Erika Johnson (26).
A pair of goalies, junior
Emily Ross and sophomore
Kimberly Presuto, combined to spark Ithaca under first-year head coach
Karrie Moore.
Ross went 11-3 with a 9.25 goals-against average, while Presuto was 2-2 with a 7.78 goals-against average and a .513 saves percentage.
The 40-team tournament continues with the regionals (May 21-22), semifinals (May 28) and championship (May 29). The semifinals and championship occur at Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pa.
