GENEVA, N.Y. – The 19^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse program hit the road for its biggest game of the season on Wednesday afternoon when it faced No. 17 William Smith at Urick Stadium in Geneva, N.Y. In a matchup against teams unbeaten in Liberty League action the meaning of Wednesday's game could not be understated, as the winner would gain the leg-up in the chase for the Liberty League's regular-season title and hosting rights for the upcoming Liberty League Tournament. Unfortunately, it would be the Herons that held serve on home turf this day, pulling way down the stretch for a 13-7 victory. The loss drops IC's record to 8-4 on the year and 5-1 in league play.
 
The contest was much tighter than the final score ultimately indicated. Both sides were evenly matched throughout much of the day, as the Bombers and Herons engaged in a game that featured plenty of aggressive defending and tactical offensive chances. It would be the final 22-minutes and in-particular the waning moments of the game that proved to be the difference. William Smith outscored Ithaca 6-to-1 over that final stretch, which included a four-goal run to close out the final seven-minutes to inflate the final margin.
 
Many of the team stats were quite even in terms of the overall game play. William Smith held small advantages of 21-to-17 in shots on goal, 10-to-8 in saves, 19-to-16 in ground-balls, and 14-to-8 in draw controls. The Bombers held a slight edge in turnovers, 14-to-16, while both teams earned seven free-position chances apiece.
 
Sophomore midfielder Jacqui Hallack led IC in terms of scoring with a three-point outing. She posted one goal on her lone free-position shot of the game, while she added two assists. The performance stretched her streak of multi-point games to five, while it was her eighth multi-point outing on the season.
 
Three other Ithaca players posted multi-point performances on the day. Senior attacker Danika Wagener and senior midfielder Erin McGee each posted two-goal games, while junior attacker Bailey Herr also registered two points on one goal and one assist. Also adding points this afternoon were senior attacker Allie Panara and sophomore midfielder Caroline Grant. Panara posted her 125^th career assist to extend her program record, while Grant's point came on a goal.
 
Defensively, Ithaca racked up seven caused turnovers in the game. Sophomore Molly Nodiff paced the Bombers with a strong performance, posting two caused turnovers and three ground-balls. Senior Reid Simoncini registered one caused turnover, one ground-ball, and a team-best three draw controls. Sophomore Rachel Rosenberg, senior Elizabeth Rice, as well as Herr and Grant finished with one caused turnover apiece. Grant and Hallack also tied Nodiff for the team lead with three ground-balls each.
 
In goal, sophomore Mackenzie Schade turned in one of her best performances of the season in the defeat. She finished the day with eight saves.
 
The nature of today's game was revealed right from the opening draw. William Smith and Ithaca both came out with aggressive postures on defense, with time-and-space a premium for opposing offenses. It was Wagener that delivered the IC offense early on. She gave Ithaca brief 1-0 lead when she made an excellent spin move and snapped a shot top-shelf for 20^th goal of the year 3:22 into the game. Although the Herons pulled ahead on goals by Ellie Burns and Rachel Slagle, Wagener equalized the contest with 19:43 remaining in the half to tie things up at 2-2.
 
The Herons pulled back ahead 4-2 over the middle stretch of the half on goals from Slagle and Nicki Santora; however, Ithaca held the better of the play to close out the half. The Bombers tallied two goals on woman-up advantages to close the deficit to just a 5-4 margin through 30-minutes. McGee netted the first goal during that stretch when she bested William Smith keeper Olivia Hofmann through the five-hole on a free-position shot with 5:14 left in the half. Herr capped the scoring in the half with a wonderful goal with 1:32 remaining. Schade started the sequence with a big save on the other end. Hallack picked up the ground-ball on a strong stick battle and sprinted coast-to-coast, before feeding Herr right on top of the crease. The third-year attacker caught the pass, quickly turned and deposited an over-head shot past Hofmann.
 
Hallack brought IC back to level terms 2:52 into the second half when she whipped home her 26^th goal of the season to tie things up at 5-5. Unfortunately, the tie last less than one minute. Back-to-back goals by Ellie Burns over a 15-second span reupped William Smith's lead to 7-5 with 26:01 to play. The Bombers would never be able to get back to level terms again through the duration of the game.
 
Panara and Grant synced up to bring Ithaca back within a goal with 23:17 remaining. The senior attacker picked out the second-year mid on a great pass through the slot, which Grant deposited into the lower left corner of the cage. Unfortunately, another William Smith surge kept IC from building the momentum. Payton McMahon tallied consecutive goals to widen the Herons' lead to its largest margin of the day at 9-6 with 17:23 left.
 
Ithaca looked to possibly mount a final charge when McGee scored her second goal of the day with 12:42 remaining to bring the Bombers back within close striking distance at 9-7. Sadly, IC was unable to sustain much in the way of attacking zone possession down the stretch. William Smith came on strong during the final minutes of the game, winning four of the final five draw controls in the contest. Slagle scored with 7:16 to again widen the margin to three goals at 10-7. The Herons iced the game with a three-goal spurt in the final four-minutes to put things out of reach.
 
Ithaca will be back in action this coming weekend when the Bombers travel to Troy, N.Y., to face RPI on Saturday, April 13. Start time is scheduled for noon.