ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey team opened the 2016 season on Thursday evening, hitting the road to take on No. 18 University of Rochester. The Yellowjackets potted a pair of goals in each half to down the Bombers in a 4-1 final at Fauver Stadium.
 
While the Bombers were able to blank Rochester in a 1-0 upset win at Higgins Stadium last season, 18^th-ranked Rochester was able to establish a foothold in the offensive third of the field during the opening half during tonight's opener. The Yellowjackets outshot Ithaca 8-0 in the first 30 minutes, taking a 2-0 lead into halftime.
 
Despite the territorial advantage, IC held Rochester at bay until the ninth minute. Rochester's Jennifer Lee put the hosts ahead 1-0 at 8:59 of the first half, corralling a loose ball at the back post and sending a shot past Ithaca goalkeeper Katie Lass. The Yellowjackets doubled the lead just 2:05 later, as Claire Dickerson knocked in a rebound, after Lass made an excellent initial reactionary save on Rochester's Nancy Bansbach.
 
The Ithaca defense held firm the remainder of the half, but the Bombers were unable to generate much on the opposite side of the field before the halftime horn. Lass made two more stops, while senior midfielder, Cassie Schuttrumpf added a defensive save.
 
Rochester continued to put the pressure on during the early portions of the second half. The Yellowjackets earned a pair of penalty corners, but the Bomber backs did well to shield three shot attempts from getting to Lass. However, the gritty defensive work finally succumbed to the pressure in the 44^th minute, as Callie Fisher finished an excellent end-line pass to the front of the cage by Lauren Sharpe to make it 3-0.
 
The Bombers immediately answered the allowed goal with their best offensive work to that point in the contest. IC earned a penalty corner immediately after the restart, which Schuttrumpf would turn into a great scoring chance. The senior fired a hard shot toward the vacated cage, but Rochester's Courtney Dunham denied the sure-goal with a defensive save.
 
The Yellowjackets scored their second goal of the half to extend the lead in the 52^nd minute, as Samantha Dow finished off a backdoor pass from Sayaka Abe to up the host's lead to 4-0.
 
Ithaca finished the game strong despite the deficit and the team's hard work was rewarded in the 65^th minute. Colleen Keegan-Twombly picked up where she left off at the end of last season, scoring her first goal of the season. Keegan-Twombly found space in the center of the arc and Amanda Schell found her with an excellent pass. The senior scorer ripped a shot that eluded Rochester keeper Kiran Sundaram to make the score 4-1.
 
Unfortunately, the deficit proved too great, as the Yellowjackets held off the late Bomber rally. Lass finished with five saves for IC.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Wednesday, September 7, continuing the season-opening road swing with a 4:00 p.m. date at rival SUNY Cortland.