ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team had its hands full this afternoon when it welcomed a scrappy University of Scranton squad to frigid Higgins Stadium. A dominant second half ultimately paved the way for the Bombers third consecutive victory to begin the 2018 campaign, as IC surged past the Royals for a 16-7 victory.
 
Tied at 7-7 at halftime, Ithaca used a shutdown performance in the final 30-minutes to run away with the win. Senior keeper Kimberly Presuto registered 10 of her season-high 14 saves during the second half, while an extremely active IC defense limited the Royals to just 11 shot attempts and 11 turnovers to blank the visitors after intermission. On the flip side, IC offense erupted for nine unanswered goals over the final 19:57, turning the seven-all deadlock into a third straight comfortable victory.
 
Leading the way offensively for the eighth-ranked Bombers was the dynamic attacking duo of junior Elizabeth Rice and sophomore Bailey Herr. Both players amassed a game-high seven points in the contest. Rice posted new career high, registering five goals to bring her team-high total to 13 through three games. Herr continued to rack up big point totals as well, posting seven points for the second consecutive contest, scoring four goals and adding three helpers.
 
Junior Allie Panara also had a big second half that helped spark the IC scoring run down the stretch. The third-year attacker had a difficult first half that saw her briefly exit the game after a collision late in the frame; however, Panara displayed her lethal attacking quality with a hat-trick in the final 20-minutes to help Ithaca pull away. She finished the game with five points on four goals and one assist. The helper brings her within two assists of tying Nicole Borisenok '12 (56) for 10^th on the program's all-time career list.
 
The rookie midfield also had a big impact in the game. Freshman Jacqui Hallack continued her hot shooting after posting her first career hat trick over the weekend against then-No. 14 Brockport. Hallack posted two more goals this afternoon, netting one tally in each half. Sophomore Katie Welch picked up her third goal of the campaign during the second half, while freshman Indira Varma registered her first collegiate goal late in the game.
 
Junior attacker Maeva Cambria rounded out the point scoring with a lone assist.
 
Defensively, the Bombers were relentless throughout the game, but were unconquerable during the final 30-minutes. Their active sticks and unnerving pressure paved the way for 16 caused turnovers in the game, while the Royals finished with 28 miscues in total. Seniors Molly Long and Elizabeth Sauer each finished with a pair of caused turnovers, while junior Reid Simoncini added one caused turnover in her first action this spring. Freshman Caroline Paquin added a forced miscue, while the midfielders Rachel Rosenberg and Erin McGee finished with two caused turnovers apiece.
 
The storyline of the game was the play of senior goalie Kimberly Presuto down the stretch. She was there each time the Royals were able to find slim openings during the second session, stopping all 10 shots on goal during the final 30-minutes to push her record to 3-0 on the young season. Her 14 total saves on the day represented a new season high, while she also added one caused turnover as well.
 
While the first half was a back-and-forth battle, the opening minutes of the game had the makings of what would look to be a runaway win for IC. Hallack got the Bombers off the mark 2:50 into the game, knifing through a trio of Scranton defenders to score beautiful goal. Panara followed 1:39 later, taking a feed from Herr and burying the shot inside the bottom left of the cage.
 
Despite the fast start, the visitors hung tough and would equalize the game with a pair of goals over a 48-second span. The Royals won each of the next two draw controls following the Panara goal, with both possessions ending in goals from lead attacker Katie Rogers. She would go on to mark a first-half hat trick.
 
A four-goal run by the Bombers over a 3:58 span again lifted Ithaca to comfortable lead halfway through the first half. Rice powered the run, scoring three of the four goals during the stretch to post a hat trick for the third consecutive game. Herr also factored in big during the scoring spurt, assisting on two of the Rice tallies, while adding a goal of her own.
 
Scranton again battled back down the stretch of the opening 30-minutes. Feisty on the draw and packing in the house on defense, the Royals were able to keep the IC attack out of rhythm throughout much of the remainder of the half following Rice's goal that made the score 6-2 with 16:54 left in the frame. Scranton turned the miscues into momentum, scoring four straight goals to tie the game again, this time at six-all with 4:30 left.
 
Herr finally snapped the visitors' scoring skid when she netted a fantastic goal to help IC retake the lead at 7-6 with 3:39 to go. Coming out from behind the net, she faked a move across the face of goal and turned back against the grain, before launching a sneaky backhand shot into the twine. Unfortunately, it was not enough to send Ithaca into the lead at half, as Jill Henson scored for the visitors with 1:29 left to re-tie the game at 7-7.
 
The score remained deadlocked over 10-minutes into second stanza. Presuto was extremely sharp during this crucial sequence of play, keeping the Royals off the board with four saves, two of which were on free-position opportunities.


The Bombers ultimately took the lead back for good with just under 20-minutes remaining, as Panara whipped home a shot inside the right post off the rush. The score pushed IC back ahead 8-7.
 
A four-goal stretch over 5:21 of game action gave Ithaca some much needed breathing room as the game entered the latter stages. The attacking trio of Panara, Rice and Herr did the heavy lifting during the surge. Rice put the bookend on the run with her fourth and fifth goals of the day, while she added an assist on Herr's fourth goal of the contest. Panara scored the second goal during the sequence to record the hat trick. She later added a fourth goal to finish off her points on the day with 8:59 left.
 
The stretch run was highlighted by offensive returns from IC's youthful midfield. Varma tallied her first collegiate goal with 3:17 to play, finishing off an excellent feed from Rice. Welch and Hallack capped the scoring, registering goals just 13-seconds apart with a little over one minute remaining.
 
Ithaca returns to action next week when it faces No. 3 Trinity (Conn.) on Tuesday, March 13. The game will be played at a neutral site in Baltimore, Md., as the Bombers head south for spring break. Start time for the contest is 1:00 p.m.