ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 18 Ithaca College women's lacrosse team kicked off Empire 8 play on Wednesday when it welcomed Hartwick for a mid-afternoon tilt at Higgins Stadium. The Bombers snatched firm control of the contest from the outset and never looked back in rolling to the 16-4 victory to move to 3-0 on the year.
 
Fifth-year senior attacker Ally Runyon continued to dismantle opposing defenses on Wednesday, blitzing the Hawks for a game-high eight points. She finished with six goals and two assists to mark her second consecutive eight-point in effort, which pushed her past Kim Medla '08 and Becky Bedard '09 for sixth place on the program's all-time career points list with 188. Her six goals also helped her jump Medla for fifth place on the program's all-time goal list with 159 scoring tallies for her career.
 
Senior attacker Morgan Racicot was on the passing end for three of those Runyon scores, finishing the contest with five points on one goal and four helpers. Senior midfielder Morgan Cadwell notched her first hat-trick of the season with three scores, while sophomore Danika Wagener marked four points on a goal and three assists.
 
Senior goalie Emily Ross notched her second consecutive win in the Ithaca cage. She finished with six saves in 30 minutes of play, before turning the net over to junior Kimberly Presuto to begin the second half.
 
The Bombers got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 6-0 lead, before the Hawks could get on the board. Runyon was the scorer of four of those early tallies, while she finished with five total in the opening half.
 
Ithaca's first two scoring plays were carbon copies of each other, as Racicot and Runyon hooked up with some excellent passing in the attacking zone. Racicot working from behind the net picked out Runyon making excellent runs through the Hartwick zone. The senior could not be stopped, firing low and high to best Hartwick net-minder Ashley jablonowski who performed admirably before relinquishing the cage to reserve goaltender Carleigh Tarala during the second half.
 
Freshman Bailey Herr and Cadwell each notched a goal during the opening six-goal barrage, which was capped with a pair of Runyon tallies. After Hartwick broke the ice with Allison Werner scoring on the rush with 17:03 remaining in the half, IC responded with three more goals to break things open.
 
IC notched the three scores over a 1:32 span, as sophomore midfielder Allison Panara, Racicot, and Wagener each found the back of the net. Two of the goals came off of failed clears by the Hawks. The Bombers excellent ride on the defense plagued the visitors all day, as Hartwick finished 11-for-26 in successful clear attempts on the day.
 
On the first goal, Racicot swiped the ball from Jablonowski behind the net and fed a pass to Panara streaking down the middle. The latter deposited the ball into the semi-vacated cage for her lone goal of the day. Racicot finished off the second tally, working a nice motion play behind the cage with Wagener, while the latter scored the third goal of the sequence off of a feed from Runyon.
 
The Bombers took an 11-3 lead to the intermission and wasted little time when play resumed to start the second half. Ithaca scored three times in the opening 3:58 of play to begin the second session to lock-in a 14-3 lead and get the clock running continuously throughout the rest of the contest.
 
Sophomore Elizabeth Rice netted Ithaca's first goal of the half, her first of the season. Cadwell notched her hat-trick with a goal just 33-seconds later, while senior Olivia Oppenheim rifled home a shot top-shelf from five-yards out with 26:02 left in the half.
 
Sophomore midfielder Erin McGee tallied her first goal of the season with a free-position goal midway through the half, while Runyon put the finishing touches on her big afternoon with a goal with 12:20 remaining.
 
Defensively, the were relentless through the entirety of the contest. Junior defender Molly Long forced five caused turnovers and corralled three ground-balls, while senior Elizabeth Sauer and sophomore Reid Simoncini each forced a Hartwick miscue. Senior midfielder Gaby Berne added a caused turnover, two ground-balls, and two draw controls.
 
Ithaca returns to action this weekend when it travels to Brockport, N.Y., on Saturday, March 11. The Bombers will take-on the 10^th-ranked Golden Eagles in a 12:00 p.m. contest.