ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Junior striker
Maria McGloin scored twice in a span of 1:17 to help lead the Ithaca College field hockey team overcome a late deficit in a 2-1 triumph over Nazareth College on Saturday afternoon. The victory was the Bombers third straight win, improving the team's record to 4-2 heading into the team's Liberty League opener at Union College next Saturday.
"Today we had an opportunity to define what it means to battle back and work for a win," head coach
Kaitlyn Wahila said postgame. "We let up a late goal heading into halftime and we knew we would have to increase our work rate in the second half. While only allowing two shots in the secodn half, we spent a majority of the half working for a goal. Our team never stopped competing against a tough Nazareth team and we are proud to have been able to take care of the game in regulation."
Despite a dominant advantage in shots and shots on goal, Ithaca trailed 1-0 with under eight minutes remaining. However, IC's pressure was rewarded with the pair of quick-strike goals from McGloin who scored for the second consecutive game this week. The junior's first goal came off a nice piece of play from a talented freshman, as
Maya Rodgers continued her breakout stretch of play with an excellent pass to McGloin in front of cage. The veteran ripped a shot past Nazareth keeper Kimber Nourse to tie the game with 7:16 to play.
With momentum clearly in the Bombers' favor, Ithaca quickly won back possession off the restart and again invaded the Nazareth defensive 25-yard box. Wielding the hot stick, McGloin again made things happen, besting her defender and making a hard charge to the Golden Flyer cage. Her initial shot was denied by Nourse, but McGloin stuck with the rebound and smacked home the goal on her second attempt to give Ithaca its first lead with 5:59 to play.
The visitors saw the game out by holding the majority of possession during the final minutes, making the 2-1 lead standup. Sophomore goalkeeper
Savanna Lenker improved to 4-2 on the year with another strong effort, allowing a lone first-half goal in finishing with three saves.
Ithaca dominated the shot counter in the contest, launching 22 shot attempts to the Golden Flyers eight in the game, which included an 18-to-4 advantage in shots on cage. The Bombers fired 12 of those attempts in the first half, a 35-minute period in which IC earned eight penalty corner opportunities. However, Nourse repeatedly kept the game scoreless with athletic stops.
Against the run of play, it was the Golden Flyers that actually took the lead to the break with a late goal just 1:53 before halftime. Emily Prescott sent home a shot after a great pass from Leah Good to make it 1-0.
The IC attack continued to assert its will after the break, firing 10 more shot attempts, while limiting Nazareth to just two attempts at goal. Finally, the deficit was whittled away as McGloin posted the first multi-goal game of her career.
Ithaca returns to action next Saturday, September 23, when the Bombers head to Schnectady, N.Y., for their first Liberty League contest at Union. Start time for the contest is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
