ITHACA, N.Y. – Once again overtime proved to be winning time for the Ithaca College field hockey team on Saturday afternoon when the Bombers welcomed perennial league challenger William Smith to Higgins Stadium for a crucial Liberty League clash. On the strength of senior striker Maria McGloin's overtime tally, the Bombers picked up the huge 3-2 victory over the Herons, improving to 9-3 on the year and 2-1 in Liberty League play.
 
The second half was complete domination for the Bombers in everywhere, but the scoreboard. Leading 2-1 at the break, IC racked up an 11-to-3 shot advantage over the final 35-minutes and a 5-to-1 edge in penalty corner chances in an effort to ice the game with a big insurance goal. Unfortunately, the lone score came from the visitors in what amounted to their only high-quality scoring chance in the second session, as Sorcha McCooey bested the IC defense with a reverse shot to tie the game at 2-2 with 8:02 left in regulation. For the second straight game this week and third time in five contests at Higgins Stadium this season the game would head to overtime, creating another dramatic finish on South Hill.
 
Once again, the extra session was kind to the Bombers, who looked the much fresher and dynamic side during the overtime period. The play had a similar look to Ithaca's overtime goal from the midweek 1-0 triumph over Nazareth this past Thursday. Senior back Kimmy Briscoe started the play with some excellent defense in the IC third, stymieing a William Smith three-on-three break and launching a quick counter. She worked possession up to senior back Maddie Keppel who split a pair of William Smith defenders, but was fouled. She took possession on a quick restart and was able to thread an area pass to McGloin that was streaking to the near-side post behind the Herons' defense. Although William Smith keeper Alexandra DeVito came out to challenge, McGloin made a deft stick handle to gain just enough separation at the near post, before tucking in the game-winning goal just inside the right post. The goal lifted IC to its first victory over William Smith since the Bombers took down the seventh-ranked Herons at Yavits Field during the 2007 season.
 
The score was the second of two goals for McGloin in the contest, extending her career high total to eight on the year. Also finding the net for IC was sophomore striker Kristen Rafferty, who tallied an equalizer goal in the opening half, her second straight game netting a goal.
 
Scoring the win in the Ithaca cage was junior goalie Savanna Lenker, who was again in superb form on Saturday. She tallied double-digit saves for the first time on the 2018 campaign, finishing with 10 saves to improve to 9-3 on the year.
 
The contest did not get off to the best of starts, as Ithaca found itself down 1-0 just 7:13 into the game. The visitors came out on the front foot and capitalized on a penalty corner to get on the board. Fallon Adair started the scoring play, inserting the ball to the point to McCooey. The Heron striker stick-handled a step to her left and fired a laser shot that was padded down with the blocker by Lenker; however, the Bombers were unable to clear the rebound from in front. Adair came off her end-line position and chipped home the rebound into the semi-vacated cage to put the visitors ahead.
 
While the stats certainly favored William Smith in terms of shot attempts during the ensuing minutes, the IC pressure clearly began to build as the half continued. Finally, the Bombers were able to break through for consecutive goals 5:18 apart to go into the half on a high note.
 
The equalizing goal came 26:03 into the game, as Rafferty scored to cap a beautiful tic-tac-toe play by the Bombers. The scoring play started in the defensive end, as first-year midfielder Grace Ziehnert made a great play along the sideline to weave through two Heron defenders. She worked a pass up to senior striker Meg Dowd who again sent an area pass up to McGloin inside the scoring arc. McGloin's shot looked to have enough steam to get in on its own, but Rafferty was there to take things beyond doubt, slamming home the ball on the doorstep to level the score at 1-1.
 
Riding the wave of momentum, the Bombers pulled ahead for the first time in the contest with 3:36 left in the half. McGloin was dynamic on the play, redirecting a shot on goal that struck DeVito on the chest pad. The senior stuck with the rebound, shielding possession, before whipping a reverse chip shot into the lower left corner to send IC into the break leading 2-1.
 
Ithaca did not rest on its tight lead during the second half, pressing repeatedly in an effort to extend its tenuous lead. The Bombers had several quality scoring chances to gain the insurance goal, but were turned away chance-after-chance by the strong defense of the Herons and timely goalkeeping from DeVito. With the Herons hanging around within a goal, things remained very much still to be decided when the clock ticked under 10-minutes to play.
 
Although IC was smothering during the second stanza, William Smith finally was able to extend possession across midfield for really the first and only time over the final 35-minutes with roughly 10-mintues to go in regulation. The Herons capitalized on that lone chance when McCooey scored on a beautiful reverse shot that beat Lenker five-hole through a lot of traffic in front on a penalty corner chance to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Despite the deflating goal, Ithaca snatched back momentum over the final minutes of regulation. Although it did not result in a go-ahead goal, it set the tone for the overtime session. IC held the majority of possession over the final minutes, while Dowd had a great scoring chance turned away by DeVito's pad, setting up McGloin's overtime heroics.
 
Ithaca returns to action next Friday, October 12, when it welcomes nationally-ranked Vassar to Higgins Stadium for the final game of IC's season-long three-game homestand. Start time for the contest is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.