NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The Ithaca College field hockey team capped the regular-season in advance of next week's Liberty League Tournament on Saturday when the Bombers hit the road to face SUNY New Paltz in a non-league battle. Ithaca continued its strong run to the end the year, extending its winning streak to three games with a convincing 3-0 shutout of the Hawks. The victory improves Ithaca's record to 12-6 heading into the postseason.
 
The Bombers were sharp on both ends on Saturday, turning in another confident and purposeful performance in all aspects. Despite it being a non-league battle against SUNY New Paltz on Saturday, IC wanted to sustain its upward trajectory over the past week heading into the team's first taste of conference postseason action since 2015 next week. IC scored a goal in each of the first three quarters on the day and smothered the Hawks attack throughout in the convincing 3-0 shutout.
 
Junior striker Kristen Rafferty staked IC to the early advantage with the opening goal with just over five-minutes left in the first quarter. She would go on to finish with two goals on the day to bring her season total to five on the year. Sophomore transfer Morgan Mullen also added her 14^th goal of the year to add to her team-leading total. For Mullen, the 14 goals are the highest total by an IC player dating back to the 2015 season when Colleen Keegan-Twombly posted 15 scoring strikes.
 
Adding assists on the day were Natalie Milliken and Jacqueline Mirabile. Milliken provided the setup on Rafferty's opening goal, while Mirabile delivered the pass to Mullen on IC's second goal of the day. Rafferty's third-quarter goal went unassisted.
 
In goal, senior keeper Savanna Lenker and sophomore Macy Brandwein shared time in the cage, both posting strong efforts. Lenker marked three saves over the first 45-minutes, before relinquishing the cage to Brandwein for the final period. IC's second-year talent made the shutout stand up with two saves over the final 15-minutes. For the duo, it was their second combined shutout of the year, while it was Ithaca's seventh total shutout of the season. The defense also contributed significantly to the clean sheet with three defensive saves. Junior Arleigh Rodgers, as well as sophomores Anna Parrish and Victoria Sestito each finished with one defensive save in the contest.
 
Fast starts have been a key for IC during its excellent 2019 season and the trend continued again on Saturday. The Bombers set the tone on Saturday with the team's 11th first-period goal of the season to grab the early leg-up. IC controlled the majority of the possession during the opening frame and made the possession count nearly 10-minutes into play when Milliken found Rafferty for a backdoor tap-in to secure the opener.

Ithaca only had one shot attempt in the second period, but made it count. The Bombers doubled their lead just 3:55 into the quarter on an excellent scoring strike from Mullen. Like the first goal, this one also came from the run of play, as Mirabile made a nice pass to Mullen, who deposited a shot into the yawning cage to lift the visitors to a 2-0 lead.

New Paltz put some significant pressure on Ithaca when play resumed to begin the third quarter. The Hawks generated four penalty corner chances during the first six-plus minutes of the quarter; however, the only shot on target was swept away by the deft stick of Arleigh Rodgers. IC netted an insurance goal shortly after the flurry of chances by the hosts to take the wind out of the Hawks comeback bid. Rafferty was again the beneficiary of the scoring strike, depositing a rebound after sophomore teammate Samantha Horowitz was denied on a shot from the slot.

The Bombers defense has really buckled down all season during the final quarter of contests, limiting opponents to just two total fourth-quarter goals over 18 games this season. That trend continued on Saturday, as IC again withstood some early pressure by New Paltz to maintain the scoreless shutout. Brandwein denied a pair of shots in her most extended action of the season to send IC into next week's Liberty League Tournament with some significant momentum.

Ithaca will be back on home turft to begin the postseason on Wednesday, November 6, when the Bombers welcome University of Rochester for a Liberty League Semifinal contest at 4:00 p.m. IC earned the right to host with the team's 2-1 victory over the Yellowjackets on Sunday, October 27. Skidmore and No. 15 Vassar will compete in the other Semifinal Round contest in Saratoga Springs, New York.