HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Ithaca College field hockey team suffered its first setback in Empire 8 play on Saturday afternoon, falling in heartbreaking fashion in a 2-1 loss at Stevens Institute of Technology. The defeat drops Ithaca's conference record to 1-1 on the year.
 
With the contest tied at 1-1, the Ducks earned a pair of successive penalty corner with under a minute remaining. Regan Littell inserted the ball with 24 seconds left and through a scrum in front of the cage, Nolie Prouty was able to chip a shot past Ithaca's goalkeeper, Katie Lass, to secure the victory for the home side with 10 seconds remaining.
 
The ultimate deciding goal was a tough conclusion to a strong half by the Bombers, who battled back from an early deficit to tie the contest. Ramping up the offensive pressure following halftime, Ithaca enjoyed its fair share of threatening possession in the second session. IC was finally able to break through in the 56^th-minute.
 
The Bombers used their quick-strike transition game to equalize the contest. Intercepting a pass just shy of midfield, Michaela Donohue and Viktoria Schultz launched a two-on-one counter-attack the other way. Donohue fed a great pass to Schultz, who one-timed it past diving Stevens keeper, Emily Stukenborg, to tie the game at 1-1. The score was Schultz's first of the season.
 
Ithaca had an excellent chance to push ahead in the ensuing minutes following the equalizing goal. The Bombers earned two penalty corners in a row just two minutes after tying the game. Unfortunately, neither resulted in a go-ahead tally, as Colleen Keegan-Twombly fired a shot just wide of cage and Amanda Schell had a hard shot parried away by Stukenborg to keep the contest deadlocked.
 
Michaela Thompson scored the Ducks opening tally during the first half of play. She deflected a shot by Katti Thomasian to push Stevens ahead 1-0 in the 22^nd minute.
 
Senior goalkeeper, Katie Lass, posted a solid game for the Bombers. She finished with nine saves, including several excellent stops to preserve the tie during the waning moments. Unfortunately, the fantastic effort came up just short, as the Ducks grabbed the early edge in the season standings.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Wednesday, September 21, when it welcomes Houghton to Higgins Stadium in a 4:00 p.m. start.