CANTON, N.Y. – A spring trip to the North Country is never a hospitable experience for a team hitting the road. The 16^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse got to experience that first hand on Friday evening when it kicked off the first leg of a weekend back-to-back when it took on a feisty St. Lawrence squad. The Bombers navigated persistent winds and snow squalls, as well as a furious comeback charge by the home Saints, but was able to come out on the victorious end of a 12-10 contest to maintain its perfect record in Liberty League play. The victory improved Ithaca's record to 7-3 on the season and 4-0 in league action heading into tomorrow's matchup at Clarkson.
 
Although the calendar read the first week of April, the landscape had the look of the first week of January when the teams took the field Hall-Leet Stadium in Canton, N.Y. The original start time for the game was scheduled for 4:00 p.m.; however, heavy snow pushed the start time back nearly two hours, as crews needed to clear a solid blanket of white from the playing surface. Once things finally got underway, Ithaca not only had to battle the elements, as St. Lawrence put together its most comprehensive effort of the season to give the Bombers its biggest test of the league slate to-date. In the end, Ithaca showed its resolve down the stretch to hold onto its advantage to keep its perfect record in Liberty League play intact.
 
Pacing the Bombers offensively was another huge game by IC's junior attacking duo of Elizabeth Rice and Allie Panara. Rice followed her career-high eight-goal effort against Union last weekend with a game-high six points on three goals and three assists. It marked the fourth time this season she has posted six-or-more points in a game, while it was her sixth hat-trick effort of the campaign. Panara entered the contest coming off a huge outing as well, posting 16 points last week to earn Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week and ECAC North Offensive Player of the Week honors. She continued to wield a hot stick on Friday, registering five points on three goals and two assists. The two helpers pushed her past Tracy Rivas '14 for sixth on the program's all-time list with 68 career assists.
 
Three other IC players posted multi-point efforts in the win. Sophomore Bailey Herr chalked up three points on two goals and an assist. The effort helped her join Rice and Panara in reaching the 40-point threshold on the season. Junior midfielder Erin McGee added a two-point game with a goal and an assist, while junior attacker Danika Wagener tallied a pair of goals in the win.
 
Rounding out the scoring for IC was sophomore midfielder Katie Welch who scored one goal on the day. The lone tally stretched her goal-scoring streak to two straight games, while it advanced her point streak to four consecutive outings.
 
Defensively, the Bombers were able to generate 22 St. Lawrence turnovers; however, they were only credited with three caused turnovers on the day. Junior Reid Simoncini had one of the swipes, while Panara and junior attacker Maeve Cambria added the other two caused turnovers on the day. Junior Kaylou Stoddard and senior Molly Long each chipped in one ground-ball, while senior Elizabeth Sauer added two ground-balls.
 
In goal, senior Kimberly Presuto ran her record to 7-3 on the year, coming up with some big saves down the stretch to maintain the Bombers lead. She finished with eight saves in the contest, while she was also credited with two ground-balls.
 
It was a fast start that ultimately proved to be the difference for the Bombers in Friday's battle. A 6-0 scoring run to begin the game delivered IC a comfortable advantage midway through the opening half. Although the Saints outscored the Bombers 10-6 over the final 39:48 of the game, they were never able to close the margin any smaller than two goals.
 
Welch got Ithaca on the board 6:10 into the game when she whipped home an unassisted tally. Just 43-seconds later, Rice doubled the IC lead when she took a great pass from McGee on a center drive and fired a shot into the bottom right.
 
A few minutes later another pair of quick strikes expanded the advantage to 4-0 when Rice and Panara tickled the twine 1:08 apart. Herr set up the first scoring play, looping around the cage from the 'X', before feeding Rice on another great cut to the cage. The latter ripped home a hard shot just as the clock ticked under 20-minutes remaining in the half. Shortly after Rice's second strike of the half, Panara earned a free-position and capitalized on the chance from the right side of the fan to make the score 4-0 with 18:51 left.
 
Continuing to earn free-position opportunities in bunches, the Bombers kept scoring from the spot. McGee whipped home a shot from the controlled restart at 14:14, while Panara added her second free-position goal of the half 11:28 left in the opening frame to widen the margin to 6-0.
 
Despite the dominant start, St. Lawrence began to find its footing and closed the half with a momentum generating 3-1 scoring run. Emma Jewett ended Presuto's shutout bid with 9:48 left in the half; however, Herr responded for IC to stretch the lead to 7-1. Saints' leading scorer Rachel Boghosian ended the half with a pair of goals 1:23 apart to send the home side into the half feeling good about its prospects with just a 7-3 deficit.
 
The second half began innocently enough for the Bombers. Panara and Herr sandwiched a St. Lawrence free-position score by Greta Massey with goals of their own to re-up Ithaca's lead to 9-4 with 23:24 left to play. However, Saints goalie Olga Lukas would buckle down on the Bombers down the stretch. She carded eight of her 13 saves during the second half to allow the Saints to get back into the contest.
 
Ashley Norris and Kayla Schmalz tallied less than three-minutes apart to close the deficit to just three goals. After a pair of Wagener scores for IC sandwiched Boghosian's third goal of the game, another two-goal run by the Saints further chipped away at the Bombers lead. Boghosian rifled home her fourth of the day with 7:54 left, while Schmalz registered her second of the half to close the margin to 11-9 with 3:52 still left to play.
 
Ithaca turned to its dynamic duo to ultimately seal the game. Panara and Reid Simoncini combined to win the ensuing draw following Schmalz's goal. The Bombers capitalized with the possession, as Panara set up Rice to lift Ithaca to 12-9 lead with 2:50 left to play. Another draw control win, this one by Sauer, allowed the Bombers to chew up additional time, while Presuto added a pair of stops down the stretch to maintain the lead. Although Greta Massey added a late goal to again close the deficit to two goals, it was too little too late for the Saints with only 15-seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Ithaca returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it heads over to Potsdam for a 3:00 p.m. contest against Clarkson.