SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The 19^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team kept its perfect record in Liberty League play intact on Saturday afternoon when it hit the road in league action for the first time this spring for a tricky road tilt at Union. The Bombers surged past the Dutchwomen behind a dominant second-half performance, running away with a 15-7 victory on Saturday afternoon. The win improves Ithaca's record to 6-3 on the year and 3-0 in Liberty League fixtures.
 
It was the second half that proved to be the difference for the visitors on this day. With Ithaca leading by just 7-6 margin at the break, the Bombers put together a fantastic final 30-minutes. IC outscored the Dutchwomen 8-to-1, showcasing some of its best play of the year in both the offensive and defensive ends.
 
The Bombers were paced offensively by seven players that recorded multi-point outings and eight players that appeared on the score sheet, overall. Junior attacker Bailey Herr led the way for IC, continuing her big season with her sixth five-plus point outing of the year. She scored four goals and chipped in one assist on the afternoon to inch closer to the top of the league charts in scoring.
 
Senior attacker Danika Wagener also perpetuated her excellent run of play of late with a four-point effort on the day. She scored twice and added two assists. Junior mid Katie Welch and sophomore mid Jacqui Hallack both chipped in hat-trick performances, as well as one caused turnover apiece in the win. Senior attacker Allie Panara joined them both with a three-point afternoon, which all came on assists. With the performance, Panara moved within two assists of tying 2009-graduate Becky Bedard's program record 121 career assists.
 
Senior attacker Elizabeth Rice and sophomore Megan Motkowski both posted two-point efforts with a goal and assist apiece. Motkowski added two draw controls, while Rice chipped in two ground-balls. Sophomore mid Indira Varma closed out the Ithaca scoring with one goal, while she also collected two grounders.
 
Defensively, Ithaca's backline corps had an impressive afternoon. The Bombers played a primary role in Union committing 32 turnovers on the afternoon and just a 13-for-25 success rate on clears.
 
Junior Becky Mehorter had her best performance of the season with a monster day on the stat sheet. She notched three caused turnovers and collected six ground-balls. Sophomore Molly Nodiff also amassed three forced turnovers and three ground-balls, while senior Reid Simoncini had two caused turnovers, seven ground-balls and five draw controls on the day. Also posting one caused turnover on the day were: senior Erin McGee and sophomores Rachel Rosenberg, Samantha Marsh, and Caroline Paquin.
 
In goal, sophomore Mackenzie Schade improved her record to 6-3 as a starter this season. She finished with four saves on the afternoon with three of them coming during Ithaca's dominant final 30-minutes.
 
The opening half was a bit of a mixed bag for the Bombers. The team enjoyed strong play for stretches, but also were susceptible to some lapses that limited IC to just a one-goal advantage at the break. The Bombers controlled the majority of the play in terms of the counting stats, out-shooting Union 16-to-9, converting a perfect 11-for-11 in clears compared to Union's 7-for-14 success rate, and forcing the Dutchwomen into 18 turnovers (nine caused) in the first 30-minutes. Equaling out that dominance was a hefty Union advantage in the draw, as the Dutchwomen held an 11-to-3 edge in the opening half that kept things close in terms of the overall possession.
 
Although Union struck for the initial tally just 50-second into the game, IC pushed back with back-to-back goals in a 1:09 span to take a lead. IC would not trail again for the rest of the half. Hallack leveled the game with 27:54 left in the half when she wired a snap shot on a free-position chance, while Rice put Ithaca up 2-1 with 26:45 left in the first on her first of the day.
 
Ithaca put together another two-goal run just under 10-minutes into the game. Herr fired home her 21^st goal of the campaign on her go-to play, swinging out from the 'X' and firing an over the top shot back across the grain into the lower left of the cage. Welch stretch the IC lead to 4-2 when she received a Rice feed behind the defense on the left side of the fan and labeled a shot inside the right post.
 
Union pushed back with a pair of goals in quick succession to cap the entertaining first 10-minutes. Lindsay Gerrato and Isabel Bush bested Schade on consecutive shots in a 38-second span to knot things at 4-4.
 
IC looked to be beginning to pull away during the middle portion of the half, scoring three times during a stretch that featured some excellent work by the Bombers on the ride and in their own defensive zone. Hallack sparked the run when she took a Motkowski feed on the run and ripped a shot streaking through the fan into the lower left side of the cage to reestablish the Ithaca lead. Just 3:12 later, Welch scored her second of the day on a free-position chance from the left side of the fan that snuck through five-hole. Motkowski capped the three-goal run when she cut right-to-left across the fan and wired a shot inside the far-side left post. With the run, Ithaca stretched the lead to 7-4 with 6:59 to play in the half.
 
Union took the momentum into halftime with two goals in the waning moments. Julia Pfohl answred Motkowski's tally one-minute later with a free-position strike with 5:59 to play in the half. Emma Lowrey brought the Dutchwomen back within a goal with 2:53 remaining in the first.
 
The game flipped on its head during the first 6:50 of the second half. Ithaca looked sharp and purposeful in converting four offensive possessions into goals. Herr got things going 2:20 into the half when she whipped home her second goal of the afternoon. Wagener stretched the IC advantage back to three goals with a nasty snap-shot 3:13 later, while Herr and Welch scored 41-seconds apart to cap the run and force a Union timeout. With the initial surge out of the break, Ithaca suddenly had an 11-6 edge.
 
Although Union would claw one goal back just before the midway point of the half, Ithaca would control matters through the end of regulation. Another four-goal surge that featured goals from Varma, Wagener, Hallack and Herr put the game on ice for the Bombers.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Friday, April 5, when St. Lawrence comes to Higgins Stadium for a 4:00 p.m. clash in Liberty League action.