TROY, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey team hit the road for the first time in the month of October on Sunday afternoon when the Bombers traveled to the Capital Region for another crucial Liberty League bout against RPI. For the second time this season IC dropped back-to-back contests in shutout fashion, as the Engineers were able to steal away a 1-0 overtime win, dealing the Bombers a crushing defeat in the Liberty League standings. The loss drops Ithaca's record to 9-5 on the year and 2-3 within league play.
 
Sunday's contest was a tough one to stomach for the Bombers. IC really dominated the contest for large stretches of game action. At the end of regulation, Ithaca boasted a 21-9 advantage in shot attempts and 17-6 edge in penalty corner chances. However, IC was just a hair off throughout the day, unable to turn those sizeable advantages into shots on goal. Ithaca finished with just a 7-6 edge in that category.
 
Sadly, it was the Engineers that was able to steal away the victory in the extra session, the first time the Bombers have lost a game that went beyond regulation this year. The Bombers were 3-0 in such situations prior to Sunday, but Charisse Stakutis slipped a shot behind Ithaca's junior goalie Savanna Lenker 5:31 into the first overtime to deliver Ithaca a frustrating loss in the quest for Liberty League postseason play. At the end of Sunday's results, IC now sits in a four-way tie for third-place in the league standings with two games still to play. The Top-4 teams earn berths to the Liberty League Tournament.
 
The first half of today's contest was fairly even between the two sides. Both the Bombers and Engineers traded scoring chances, each finishing with eight shot attempts through 35-minutes of play.
 
Ithaca started the game on the front foot, earning four penalty corner opportunities in the first 8:13 of the game. IC generated significant offense with the opportunities, but was unable to find a breakthrough due to the strong goalie work of RPI net-minder Rachel Kaufman. On the first penalty corner, Kaufman stoned junior midfielder Kendall Keil on a strong shot. The second chance featured blocked shots from senior back Kimmy Briscoe and sophomore midfielder Arleigh Rodgers. In the fifth-minute of play Rodgers and senior striker Maria McGloin were denied on rapid-fire chances, while Keil got another shot on target during IC's third penalty corner chance in the sequence, but was again denied by the blocker of Kaufman.
 
The Engineers settled in and had the better of the play as the half continued. RPI tallied five penalty corner chances and eight shot attempts over a 20-minute span following Ithaca's initial surge. Ithaca's defense and the strong keeper work of Lenker kept the contest scoreless. The Bombers tenacious backline blocked three of the shots, while Lenker turned away three shots that did make it through on target.
 
Ithaca had one final surge before the half with one final penalty corner chance in the final minute. Senior midfielder Maddy Ryan got away a shot attempt that was blocked.
 
The second half of the game was total domination by IC. The Bombers racked up a 13-1 advantage in shots and an absurd 11-1 edge in penalty corner chances, but just could not find a way to solve the RPI defense and the aggressive keeping of Kaufman. The Engineers survived wave-after-wave of IC bombardments throughout the final 35-minutes.
 
The first great chance came in the 44^th-minute, as McGloin rang the right post on a silky-smooth spinning reverse grip shot. In the 55th-minute, first-year Jacqueline Mirabile unleashed a laser shot from the left wing on Ithaca's 10^th penalty corner chance of the half. It just missed sneaking inside the near-side post. Moments later senior striker Meg Dowd was denied on a hard charge down the right wing, as Kaufman made a diving save to neutralize another threat. Finally, in the 64^th-minute Dowd got free again down the right side, but her sharp-angle shot trickled under Kaufman and squeezed just wide of the far post, as well as the backdoor stick of McGloin. Coming up empty, the game hit the end of regulation scoreless.
 
Not to be deterred, Ithaca kept the pressure one with the first great chance of the extra session. On a quick restart from the left sideline, Briscoe picked up Dowd on a pass wide-open behind the RPI defense. Kaufman blazed off her goal line and plunged into Dowd before she was able to unleash a shot. On the ensuing penalty corner chance, Briscoe labeled up a hard shot that was blocked.
 
The missed opportunities finally came back to bite the Bombers a few minutes later. Lenker turned away the first Stakutis shot, but the rebound came right back to the Engineer player's stick and she whipped the rebound up over the blocker of Lenker to end the contest.
 
Ithaca is back in action on Friday, October 19, when it heads to the North Country for another huge Liberty League tilt at St. Lawrence University. Start time is set for 3:00 p.m.