ITHACA, N.Y. – For the first time in four years, postseason field hockey returned to Ithaca's South Hill, as the IC field hockey team welcomed University of Rochester for a big clash in the Semifinal Round of the Liberty League Tournament on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, matters turned sour for the Bombers relatively early, while the offense sputtered in a 2-0 loss to the Yellowjackets. The defeat lowered IC's record to 12-7 and could be the team's final contest of the 2019 season.
 
The Bombers entered day with significant optimism. Hosting a conference tournament for the first time since the 2015 season, when Ithaca was still an affiliate of the Empire 8, the Bombers knew that potential glory was just 120-minutes away. Energy only heightened leading up to game-time with the news that the winner of today's contest would host the Liberty League Championship and a chance for the league's auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of top-seeded Skidmore's 2-1 overtime defeat at the hands of Vassar earlier this afternoon. Riding a three-game winning streak to close out the regular-season, which included a 2-1 victory over Rochester just 10-days ago in the Liberty League finale, the arrow could not have been pointed any higher for the Bombers.
 
Sadly, the positive vibes were stifled early after the opening whistle, as Rochester struck for a go-ahead goal less than three-minutes into the game and took command of the contest with a dominant opening half. The Yellowjackets maintained their strong two-way play into the second half, adding an insurance goal early in the third quarter, before suffocating Ithaca's red-hot offense throughout much of the remainder of regulation.
 
Senior keeper Savanna Lenker did her best to keep the Bombers in the game. She registered eight saves, several during the opening moments of the game when the visitors threatened to extend to a multi-goal advantage. Unfortunately, IC was never really able to get the attack in gear. Passes were just a hair off for much of the day, while the Yellowjackets aggressively neutralized several Bomber attacks before they could materialize at the mid-line.
 
In the end it was penalty corners in which the Yellowjackets took advantage. Starting with possession, Rochester quickly established a foothold in the IC defensive zone. Lenker was sharp early, making four early saves during the initial flurry of action. Unfortunately, IC was unable to get a crucial clear to relieve the pressure and Rochester was able to convert all that attacking pressure into a goal on the team's fourth penalty corner of the day. There was nothing Lenker could do on the goal, as Emma Schlechter made an excellent play to one-time a reverse shot out of mid-air on Colleen Maillie's deflected shot from the point.
 
Ithaca had a couple looks at an equalizer late in the period. The best two came from senior midfielder Kendall Keil. She had one shot padded away on a kick save by Rochester keeper Kate Kujawa. A second opportunity with a little over three minutes remaining in the quarter saw Keil's right wing laser shot drift just wide of the left post with sophomore Jacqueline Mirabile also there for a potential tip-in.
 
The second quarter was fairly uneventful with much of the play bottled up in the midfield. Rochester generated the only two shots of the quarter, the best look of which was stopped on a great save by Lenker just before the halftime horn.
 
Ithaca looked to get on the attack early in the third quarter, but had any momentum stymied with an early green card issued to sophomore striker Morgan Mullen. Although IC did not concede a goal during the penalty, it did allow the Yellowjackets to reestablish a foothold in the attacking zone that would materialize into a big insurance goal. It was the penalty corner that again plagued IC, as Maya Haigis batted home a rebound from the high slot to double the visitor's lead to 2-0 with 9:20 to go in the quarter.
 
Now chasing the game, IC battled hard to pull back into the contest as play continued in the third. Mullen was the instigator for IC, generating several quality looks at the cage. She had one shot stopped on a reaction save by Kujawa, while a sharp-angle shot a few minutes later was swept off the goal line by Schlechter to maintain Rochester's two-goal lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The visitors really clamped down on the Bombers to conclude the contest. Aggressively defending with a two-goal advantage, Rochester locked Ithaca in its own zone for much of the final quarter to seal the win.
 
The Bombers will learn if their postseason will continue early next week.