CANTON, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey team played perhaps its most crucial game of the year on Friday afternoon when the team kicked off the final weekend of Liberty League play with a North Country road trip to St. Lawrence. With both teams locked-in as part of a four-way  tie for the final two postseason bids, the matchup certainly lived up to the billing. The sides went the absolute distance in a back-and-forth thriller that ended in penalty strokes to decide the winner of the crucial matchup. The Bombers went on to prevail in the penalty strokes session, converting 3-of-5 chances to outpace the scrappy Saints 3-2, earning a thrilling 2-1 victory. The triumph improves Ithaca's record to 10-5 on the year and evens the team's mark at 3-3 in Liberty League play.
 
There was no separating the two sides through 90-minutes of competition, and the deadlock continued through three round of penalty strokes. However, with the teams tied at 1-1 in the session, the Bombers turned to a rookie and a senior to come up with the heroic plays to score the crucial victory.
 
After junior goalie Savanna Lenker denied St. Lawrence's Isabel Thompson with a sliding save attempt to begin the fourth-of-five rounds of strokes, first-year midfielder Jacqueline Mirabile stepped to the line for IC. In essentially a must-win contest for the Bombers to keep their postseason hopes alive, the moment would have been enough to overwhelm even the most even-keeled veterans let alone a rookie. However, as cool as you like, Mirabile turned in the highlight of the season, balancing the ball on her stick, before charging right down the alley towards cage and in one motion turning the stick over and whipping the ball past Saints keeper Sydney Giacin and into the cage. Although St. Lawrence would equalize in the session when Lucy Stillman found the cage for the home side in the fifth round, senior striker Maria McGloin stepped to the line with a chance to seal the game. It was the perfect shooter for the perfect moment for Ithaca, and the Bombers' leading scorer made no mistakes on capitalizing on the opportunity. She swiftly stick-handled towards the cage, faking a backhand, before pulling the ball back to her forehand and tucking the shot inside the right post. The goal sent the Bombers into a frenzy just right of the cage, as the team knew it just took a big step in its quest of playoff berth during the program's second Liberty League campaign.
 
It took a decent while for Friday's game to really warm up. The Bombers and Saints played an up-and-down first 35-minutes of play that was heavy in back-and-forth play on both sides of the field, but light in finishing in the final thirds. The Bombers held just a 6-3 shot attempt advantage and a 3-2 shots on goal lead heading into halftime.
 
Things remained deadlocked deep in the second half, before either side would find a breakthrough. It was Ithaca that registered the initial goal in the game, as senior striker Meg Dowd snapped a long goal-scoring drought with her third tally of the season to briefly put the Bombers ahead with 13:13 left in regulation. The tenuous lead lasted just 3:51, as Bailey Sherwin bested Lenker on a shot with 9:22 remaining in regulation to tie the score up at 1-1.
 
The Bombers backline and Lenker did a good job of stymieing the Saints down the stretch, as the equalizing goal certainly gave the home side and momentum boost over the final 10-minutes. The Saints would get two penalty corner chances during the final stretch, while Lenker also made a huge diving save on a Stillman shot attempt to send the contest to overtime.
 
Ithaca held the better of the scoring chances during the first overtime period. The lone penalty corner and shot attempt went the way of the Bombers, but sophomore striker Kristen Rafferty had her deflection shot sent away by the blocker of Giacin. No scoring occurred in the first overtime, marking the first time in five contests that have gone beyond regulation for the Bombers this season to not end in the first session.
 
Ithaca continued to put the pressure on during the second overtime, earning a pair of penalty corner chances during the first part of the second 10-minute stretch. Senior back Kimmy Briscoe turned in the lone shot on target, which Giacin was again up to the task in beating way with her pad. Three-minutes later, Lenker saved the game for the Bombers with a huge kick save of a Bailey Sherwin shot during a scramble play in front of the IC cage. The Saints would earn a final penalty corner chance with time fully elapsed, but the backline held firm to keep St. Lawrence to the periphery, before ultimately clearing the zone.
 
That set up the dramatics for IC in the penalty stroke period. St. Lawrence earned the early leg up when Sherwin bested Lenker to open the period. Although Ithaca did not convert on its first chance, sophomore Arleigh Rodgers made a nice play to level the score at 1-1 in the second round, swinging wide of Giacin and directing a backhander into the vacated cage.
 
Lenker was strong. Denying two more St. Lawrence chances to set the stage for Mirabile and McGloin's heroics in the final two rounds of the penalty stroke session.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Sunday, October 21, when it celebrates Senior Day during its Liberty League regular-season finale against Skidmore. The Bombers can clinch a postseason berth with a victory over the Thoroughbreds. Start time at Higgins Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m.