GENEVA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's soccer team's hopes of a Liberty League title were cut short on Saturday afternoon as they fell to RIT, 4-3, on penalty kicks.
 
After a scoreless regulation, followed by two more scoreless overtime periods, the game advance to a penalty kick shootout to determine who would advance to Sunday's championship game against top-seed William Smith.
 
Both IC and RIT scored three times in the first five rounds of penalty kicks.
 
RIT's Mia White started things off, but her attempt was saved by goalkeeper Emma Fruhling. Sophomore Alex Epifani was the first kicker for the Bombers, but her shot was also unsuccessful as it went over the net.
 
The Tigers' Emily Thiel put them up 1-0 with a made penalty kick before Gabriella Mihale missed her kick.
 
RIT went up 2-0 with a made Rebecca Hext kick, before the Bombers made back-to-back shots to knot things up.
 
Senior Sam Robinson put in the first penalty kick past a diving Alyssa Salls, and first-year Brady Lynch put away her attempt to even things up, 2-2.
 
RIT's Lauren Chester followed that up with another made shot for the Tigers, but Ally Christman answered right back with her own penalty kick, tying things right back up at three apiece.
 
Olivia De Luca proved to be the deciding factor for the Tigers, as she netted her penalty kick. The Bombers final kicker, sophomore Kelsey Espenhorst, had her shot stopped by Salls in the net, sending RIT to the final for the first time since 2013.
 
Both teams had chances throughout the game to score, as Ithaca recorded 12 shots on the day while RIT had 10.
 
The Bombers put their first shot on goal in the 21^st minute as Mihale sent a shot to net, which was saved by Salls and sent the other way.
 
RIT put together an offensive attack which led to a Maggie Hoey shot, which was saved by senior Stacey DiGiorgio in goal.
 
DiGiorgio was tested again in the 36^th minute by Piper Zimmerman, but she once again made the play.
 
The Bombers had just one final chance in the first half, but junior Jenny Lidwin's shot was wide.
 
The second half was more offensively productive for each team, as both the Bombers and RIT registered seven shots.
 
The Tigers had the first offensive push of the half, registering their first shot less than two minutes in.
 
DiGiorgio made her first save of the second half on a Danielle Losquadro shot in the 53^rd minute and Ithaca's defense came up strong in the 54^th minute with a block on a White shot.
 
RIT continued to pressure on the offensive end, putting another shot on frame in the 56^th minute, but DiGiorgio was there to make the stop.
 
The Bombers then put together an offensive push, starting with a Megan O'Reilly header in the 63^rd minute, which was wide.
 
In the 66^th minute McKensie Galusha's on-goal attempt was stopped by Salls, sending it the other way towards DiGiorgio. Less than two minutes later, DiGiorgio made the save on a Thiel shot.
 
RIT tested DiGiorgio once more in the second half, in the 74^th minute, but she held strong and made the save once again.
 
The Bombers continued to work for the game-winner as the minutes ticked down.
 
Salls made two big saves on shots from Lidwin in the 79^th minute and Reid Garner in the 84^th minute to keep IC off the board and force overtime.
 
Neither team registered a shot in the first overtime while RIT earned just one corner kick.
 
In the second overtime, both the Bombers and the Tigers had a shot on goal.
 
Just 15 seconds in, O'Reilly sent a ball in, but Salls made the stop.
 
Following a corner kick, Thiel put a ball on frame for RIT, forcing DiGiorgio to make the save.
 
Lidwin registered one more shot with just six seconds left, but it sailed high, forcing penalty kicks.
 
Statistically, IC narrowly outshot RIT, 12-10, while the Tigers had six corners to IC's five.
 
DiGiorgio was solid in the net for the Bombers, making seven saves on the day, while Salls had five for RIT.
 
The Bombers are now 13-2-3 on the season and await their fate to see if they will secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will be announced on Monday afternoon.