ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey team continued its offensive surge at home on Saturday afternoon, scoring early and often to rout Nazareth College 7-0 at Higgins Stadium. The victory pushes the Bombers overall record back above .500 at 4-3, while IC is now 3-1 in Empire 8 Conference play.
 
"Our goal coming back home was to get two positive results and I'm glad we were able to complete that goal today," head coach Tracey Houk said. "I really enjoyed seeing the team maintain that intensity and focus throughout today's game."
 
It did not take long for the Bombers to establish a foothold in the offensive third of the field, as IC immediately jumped out with an aggressive attacking push. IC earned two penalty corners and put five shots on cage in the opening eight minutes of play. Ithaca made good on their third penalty corner opportunity.
 
With Lauren Delia inserting the ball into play, senior, Cassie Schuttrumpf picked up possession at the right side of the arc, made a pair of nice stick handles to create some space. She flipped an arcing shot over Nazareth keeper, Kimber Nourse, to put the Bombers on the board in the 10^th minute of play.
 
IC extended the lead with more strong attacking play eight minutes later. Continuing her excellent half, Schuttrumpf was the prime creator on the scoring play. She fired a hard shot that was parried away by the blocker; however, the ball caromed to senior, Colleen Keegan-Twombly, in the middle of the arc. She scooped a shot that found its way through the significant traffic in front and into the cage to double the lead to 2-0.
 
A three-goal spurt over a 2:17 span in the waning minutes of the opening half blew the game open in favor of the Bombers. Freshman, Erin Connors started the offensive explosion with her first collegiate goal. Pouncing on a loose ball in a scurm in front of Nourse, she chipped a shot through the crowd into the back of the cage. The duo of Keegan-Twombly and Schuttrumpf continued to wreak havoc on the Golden Flyers right off the restart, as Schuttrumpf drew a foul and off the restart moved a pass to Maddie Keppel, who was unmarked on the left side of the arc. She fired a shot that was deflected into the cage netting by Keegan-Twombly. Delia completed the scoring surge 1:01 later by deflecting in a shot from her favorite spot at the left post.
 
"It was great to see the team put together some really excellent possession in the opponent half," Houk continued. "You could really see the confidence that the group had out there and they maintained that hunger to score throughout the game."
 
With the lead well in hand, Houk was able to extend her bench during the second half of the game. However, the reserves continued to assert Ithaca's dominance in the field position battle, as IC continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession in the Golden Flyers half.
 
IC made it 6-0 when Delia scored her second of the game, marking the third time over the last four games that the senior has registered a multi-goal effort. Maria McGloin capped the scoring for the Bombers in the 47^th minute, punching in a goal through the sprawled Nourse to make it 7-0.
 
Ithaca finished with a 32-5 advantage in shot attempts, which included a 25-to-1 edge in shots on goal. The Bombers had a 15-to-1 edge in penalty corners. Ithaca's seven-goal advantage was the largest margin of victory since defeating Wells by the same 7-0 score on October 7 of last season.
 
"I was really impressed by the effort the entire team gave today," Houk said. "It's great to get another conference victory under our belts and it really was a collective effort by all of our players today."
 
Ithaca returns to action on Tuesday, September 27, when they head to Aurora, N.Y., to face Wells College. Start time for the contest is slated for 3:30 p.m.