POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey team hit the road for its final regular season contest away from Higgins Stadium on Friday afternoon, traveling to the Hudson River Valley to face Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Ithaca needed victories in its final two Liberty League contests to remain in contention for the postseason, but unfortunately those hopes came to an end on Friday, as the Bombers were blanked 1-0 by the Brewers to fall to 1-5 in League play.
 
Ithaca has struggled to generate offense during its most recent stretch of games, which included some of the Bombers' toughest foes of the season. The Brewers presented another stingy opponent for IC, as they entered the day ranked second in the Liberty League with just 14 goals conceded on the season. In tactical defensive battle, it was the home side that finally was able to break through with Vassar's Mikayla Young scoring off a cage-front scrum in the 62^nd minute of play for the only goal in the game.
 
The opening half of play was largely controlled by Vassar, as it held Ithaca to no shot attempts or penalty corner opportunities in the first 35 minutes. IC's defense was equal to the task, stymieing an offense that had been averaging 2.86 goals per game. The Bombers backline limited Vassar to just seven attempts at goal with only three on target. Sophomore keeper Savanna Lenker turned away all three Vassar shots in the first 35 minutes to keep things 0-0 at the half.
 
Lenker continued her strong play in the first few minutes of the second stanza. She denied Vassar on two penalty corner opportunities around the 39-minute mark in the game. The second-year keeper denied Vassar's Haley Cubell and Megan Caveny with excellent saves to keep the scoreboard clean.
 
Ithaca's first look at goal came in the 57^th minute when IC earned its first penalty corner of the day. Junior Meg Dowd inserted the ball to junior Maddy Ryan at the point. The third-year backline player unleashed a rocket shot at goal that Vassar keeper Liz Rotolo was able to kick away with the pad. Three minutes later, the Bombers' corner duo again synced up to create a chance, but Rotolo was up to the task to deny Ryan a second time.
 
One minute following Ryan's chance, Vassar nearly broke the ice. Alyssa More got a clean look at goal in the 61^st minute of play, but her shot caromed off the post. The play foreshadowed what would come 1:21 later, when Vassar struck for the game-winner. With the Brewers working on a penalty corner, Lenker would come up large with a big save on Megan Caveny; however, the home side was able to keep things alive on the scramble. Dara Studnitzer pushed a pass to the far post, where Mikayla Young nudged it over the goal line to make the score 1-0.
 
IC was unable to generate any looks at goal with under eight minutes remaining, as IC was sent to its fifth straight defeat. Lenker finished the contest with eight saves in the hard-luck defeat.
 
The Bombers are back in action on Sunday, October 22, when they kick off a three-game homestand to conclude the season against RPI. Start time for the contest is 1:00 p.m. at Higgins Stadium.