ITHACA, N.Y. – Wednesday evening brought with it the biggest Liberty League lacrosse matchup of the season to-date when No. 14 Ithaca College and No. 20 William Smith met at Higgins Stadium with first-place in the League standings on the line. The Bombers entered the day with a perfect 5-0 record and the Herons looked like the last major obstacle separating IC from a potential perfect regular season in its first run through league action. Unfortunately, a late goal capped a big second half comeback by William Smith, which took the contest in a 9-8 final. The loss drops Ithaca to 8-4 on the year and 5-1 in League play, while William Smith pulls ahead into first with a 9-4 overall mark and a 6-1 record in League action.
 
Wednesday was heartbreaking in every sense of the word. The Bombers were leading or tied almost the entire length of regulation; however, a furious second-half surge by the Herons closed a 6-2 halftime lead to an 8-8 tie with 3:50 to play. The visitors pulled ahead for the first time in the game when Sarah Banyo fired home a turning shot in traffic with 1:12 to play. Although Ithaca got one final opportunity to tie the game, junior Allie Panara was unable to get a pass through to the danger area in front of the William Smith cage and the Herons were able to bleed away the final 15-seconds to escape Higgins Stadium with a monster win in the chase for the top overall seed in next month's Liberty League Tournament.
 
Leading the way for the Bombers offensively was a pair of huge performances from junior Danika Wagener and freshman Indira Varma. Wagener posted her best game yet since returning to the lineup six games ago. The third-year attacker registered her first hat trick of the year, finishing with three goals, one assist, and one caused turnover. Varma had a career night on Wednesday, matching Wagener's score line with a three-goal, one-assist performance that marked her first time netting three goals in a contest. The duo was dominant in the opening half in helping IC race out to a four-goal lead at the break.
 
Junior attacker Maeve Cambria was the other IC player to notch a multi-point effort. She finished with one goal and one assist, her second straight outing tallying a multi-point performance. Junior Reid Simoncini also added her second goal on the free-position of the 2018 campaign. She also chipped in a team-high five draw controls and added one caused turnover. Junior Elizabeth Rice and sophomore Bailey Herr each added one assist, but William Smith did a nice job of limiting IC's star scorers. Panara was held off the scoresheet for just the second time this season, while she was able to corral two ground-balls, one caused turnover, and one draw control.
 
Defensively, Ithaca racked up 13 caused turnovers and did well to limit William Smith's lethal attack for the majority of the evening, before the Herons found some cracks in the second half. Senior defender Molly Long turned in a virtuoso effort with four caused turnovers and five ground-balls, both representing season highs for the past IWLCA All-American. Classmate Elizabeth Sauer added three caused turnovers and three ground-balls in another strong effort. Sophomore Becky Mehorter and freshman Molly Nodiff each added one caused turnover and one ground-ball, while Mehorter was excellent in making several great clear efforts throughout the night.
 
In goal, senior Kimberly Presuto posted a solid outing, but was tagged for her fourth defeat of the campaign. She stopped eight shots and corralled three ground-balls on the evening.
 
The opening minutes were a bit helter-skelter, as neither team looked comfortable in their attacking sets. It was Ithaca that was able to find its footing first, as Varma broke the scoreless deadlock with 19:25 to play in the first half. Herr setup the play from behind the cage, swinging around to the right goal-line extended, before feeding Varma streaking through the slot. The rookie quickly controlled and fired a pop-shot inside the left post to give IC the 1-0 lead.
 
Varma doubled the IC lead just over six minutes later. Earning a free-position after getting crushed by two William Smith defenders inside thee attacking fan, the IC rookie made the most of the opportunity. She took two steps off the restart and whipped a hard shot into the bottom left of the cage.
 
Although the Herons would finally get on the board when Melissa Moore sparked what would be a huge four-goal, one-assist performance with her first tally of the evening, IC struck right back 20-seconds later on Wagener's first of the half. Like Varma's second score, this goal also game off the free-position, as Wagener whipped a laser into the lower left corner to pull ahead 3-1.
 
Ithaca went into the half on a high note with perhaps its best stretch of play this season. The Bombers tallied three times in a 47-second span in widen the advantage to 6-2 heading into the break. First, Varma hit Wagener with a perfect pass, as the latter worked free at the right post. Wagener peeled back on a spin and deposited the shot inside the near-side post. Just 33-seconds later Wagener returned the favor with an excellent pass from the 'X' to Varma cutting through the high slot on a hard center drive. The freshman rung up her third goal of the half top-shelf into the upper left corner. Right off the ensuing draw control, the Bombers forced a turnover and started a quick counter with Cambria finding Wagener behind the defense in transition for the score.
 
Unfortunately, the halftime break cooled down IC's scintillating finish to the opening half, while the Herons began to find their own footing in the tilt. The visitors scored twice in the opening 10-minutes on goals from Ali Burns and Moore to cut the IC lead to 6-4.
 
Just 20-seconds after Moore's goal cut the lead to two, Simoncini used a great individual effort to stretch the margin back to three goals. Winning the ensuing draw control, she charged hard down the left flank and earned a free-position from the left wing of the fan. Using her speed she flashed all the way from left-to-right across the face of goal and whipped a low shot into the lower right of the cage.
 
The momentum was short-lived, as the Bombers continued to struggle to find answers for William Smith's attack that was gradually warming to the task. Another two-goal run cut IC's lead to 7-6, before Ithaca was able to capitalize on a mistake to extend the lead. Picking up an unforced turnover, Rice sprinted from the left sideline toward the near post, before feeding a pass to Cambria at the backside post for the goal.
 
Sadly, that was it for the IC offense, while the Herons scored three times in the final 6:04 to pull ahead for the first time in the game. Moore was responsible for the first two goals in the sequence, using her nifty spin moves to get into advantageous scoring areas. Her second of the stretch and fourth goal of the night came on a free-position from the center point that tied the game at 8-8. The Herons pulled ahead with only 72-seconds left in regulation when Sarah Banyo whipped a shot past Presuto from the slot.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Saturday, April 14, when it welcomes RPI for another big Liberty League matchup at Higgins Stadium. Start time is set for noon.