ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey program entered Saturday's Liberty League opener against Union on one of the most impressive hot streaks in the country. Behind two goals by sophomore striker Kristen Rafferty, the Bombers stretched their winning streak to six consecutive games, notching a fifth shutout on the year in a 2-0 victory over the Dutchwomen at Higgins Stadium. The win ensures IC's best start to a season since 2000, when the Bombers also posted a 7-1 record to begin the year.
 
Ithaca continued its trend of strong play on set pieces. Both IC scores came off penalty corner opportunities, an area that the Bombers have been clinical in during the team's current surge. On the flipside, Ithaca continued to be smothering in the defensive zone, stymieing dynamic Union attack that had amassed 21 goals through five games heading into Saturday.
 
Today's match certainly had the makings of a tight one, as both Ithaca and Union have gotten off to strong starts in the non-league portion of the schedule and were looking to parlay that success into a key early victory in Liberty League action. The game lived up to the billing, as both sides enjoyed stretches of dominant ball possession. In the end, it was IC that was better able to capitalize on its scoring chances, scoring a goal in each half and holding edges of 15-to-12 in shot attempts and 11-to-7 in shots on goal.
 
The first really strong scoring chance for either side came in the 16^th-minute of play. With the Bombers working in the attacking zone, senior striker Maria McGloin was able to find her way into a soft spot in the Union defense just in front of the cage. Junior midfielder Kendall Keil was able to pick a pass out to her, but McGloin's one-timer shot drifted just wide of the left post.
 
Roughly five minutes later, Union put together a strong flurry of chances. The Dutchwomen earned four successive penalty corner opportunities; however, the IC backline and in particular junior keeper Savanna Lenker were up to the task to neutralize the threat.
 
On the opening corner of the sequence IC was a bit fortunate. Although Lenker made an excellent initial save on a hard shot by Union's Charlotte Leyland, the rebound fell right to Sarah Wilkinson who was partially unmarked at the left post. Wilkinson batted a shot that appeared to deflect off the post and settled into a scrum in front of the cage, before play was whistled dead. On the third penalty corner of the sequence Leyland had her shot blocked, while Lenker again denied Leyland on a shot in the fourth penalty corner, before Ithaca was finally able to clear the threat.
 
With about 10-minutes remaining in the first half Ithaca again got a great look for the icebreaker. Senior striker Meg Dowd got free behind the Union defense on a full breakaway down the left side of the attacking zone. Unfortunately, Union's keeper Heather Poisson, the 2017 Liberty League Rookie of the Year selection, made an excellent play to charge off her line to cut down the angle. Dowd's shot was parried away by Poisson with an excellent slide kick.
 
Despite the denial of the golden opportunity, IC began to take hold in the attacking zone as the opening half wound to conclusion. Ithaca finally found its icebreaker with just under five-minutes to play in half. Working on the team's second penalty corner of the afternoon, Rafferty converted the chance for her second goal in as many games.
 
Dowd began the play with a penalty insert to the point. Senior striker Maddy Ryan made a subtle pass to Keil who moved along the right side of the attacking arc. She fed a shot to the crease that took a deflection of senior striker Maria McGloin's stick and traveled right to Rafferty on the doorstep. The sophomore did well to quickly flick the ball across the line, before Union could sweep it clear, lifting IC to the 1-0 lead just before the break.
 
The Dutchwomen came out aggressive in search of the equalizer in the second half, putting together a strong first five minutes. However, Lenker was up to the task, turning away shots by Alexa Puleio, Charlotte Leyland and Cici Lyne. On the other side of the field, Dowd and senior back Kimmy Briscoe were denied on scoring chances.
 
The Bombers scored the big insurance goal with just over 25-minutes remaining in the contest, again coming from a penalty corner opportunity. Dowd once again started the play, shuffling the ball to point, before receiving a pass back on the end line near where she inserted the ball. Dowd whipped a pass into a crazy scrum in front of the cage, with the ball once again finding the stick of McGloin, before taking a subtle deflection to Rafferty on the far right post. Quick as a hiccup, the sophomore pounced on the loose ball to push it over the goal line to double the IC lead.
 
The IC defense did the heavy lifting to see things through to the finish line. Union once again would earn a sequence of penalty corner opportunities with just over 20-minutes to play, but was only able to tally one shot on target. Briscoe was up to the task, clearing a ball that looked ticketed for the left corner of the cage to mark her second defensive save in three games.
 
The Bombers had a couple chances to add to the lead, but Poisson did well to keep the Dutchwomen within reasonable striking distance. First, Dowd and sophomore striker Natalie Millikin were denied on successive chances with just over 13-minutes to play. Three minutes later Briscoe and Rafferty were turned away by Poisson.
 
IC sealed the victory by holding the majority of the possession over the final 10-minutes. Union would not muster another shot in the contest.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Wednesday, September 26, when it hits the road to face St. John Fisher in a non-league contest. Start time for the game is 5:00 p.m. in Rochester, N.Y.