TROY, N.Y. – The 19^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team continued its road swing on Saturday afternoon when it looked to bounce back in Liberty League play at RPI. The Bombers showcased the offensive fireworks early and rode the big lead to victory in downing the Engineers in a 16-8 final on a pristine afternoon at Renwyck Field. The win improves IC's record to 9-4 on the year and 6-1 in Liberty League play, keeping Ithaca in position for a first-round by in the upcoming Liberty League standings.
 
A strong start is what powered Ithaca to victory on Saturday. The Bombers pulled out to a massive lead in the opening 30-minutes, taking a 10-2 lead to the halftime break. The majority of that offense came over the final part of the half, as IC struck for seven goals over the final 15:34 heading into the intermission, breaking open what was a narrow 3-2 lead to a hefty advantage. Although the scoring slowed a bit during the second half, RPI never truly threatened with Ithaca maintaining at minimum a six-goal margin for the duration of the game.
 
Leading the way for Ithaca was senior attacker Elizabeth Rice who registered her highest point output of the 2019 season. She factored in on nearly half of the Bombers' goals on the afternoon, finishing with seven points on four goals and three assists. The performance lifted the IC senior past the 30-goal mark for the second consecutive season.
 
Rice paced a group of six Bombers that registered multi-point outings against the Engineers. Senior attacker Danika Wagener continued to stay hot with a four-point afternoon, which included the senior's third hat-trick performance of the season. She extended her goal-scoring streak to nine straight games, overall. Checking in with three points apiece were sophomore mid Jacqui Hallack, junior attacker Bailey Herr, and senior attacker Allie Panara. Hallack finished with two goals and one assist, while Herr and Panara flipped that stat line with one goal and two helpers each. Sophomore mid Indira Varma rounded out the group with two goals, which was her first multi-goal outing since the season-opening win over Nazareth.
 
Four other Bombers registered a single point on the day. Senior defender Reid Simoncini netter her second goal of the season, while sophomores Megan Motkowski and Caroline Grant also tickled the twine for IC. Junior midfielder Katie Welch chipped in an assist.
 
Defensively, it was junior Becky Mehorter and Simoncini who led the way. Both players posted two caused turnovers, while Mehorter added one ground-ball and Simoncini finished with four grounders. Sophomore Molly Nodiff also registered a caused turnover and four ground-balls, while Rice, Wagener, Panara and Motkowski ended the day with one caused turnover apiece as well.
 
In goal, sophomore Mackenzie Schade turned in a career-best performance in her first season as starter. She reached double-digit saves for the first time, racking up 10 total on the day. The win improved her record to 9-4 on the year.
 
The Bombers jumped out on the Engineers during the opening minutes of today's contest, setting the tone for what would end up being another prolific half on both ends of the field. Varma struck for the first goal of the day 3:34, capitalizing on a nice feed from Herr. Grant followed with a goal 31-seconds later on IC's ensuing possession, while Panara netted her 12^th of the season 56-seconds after the Grant score to make it 3-0 through five-minutes.
 
RPI pushed back with back-to-back goals from Nora Molino and Abbey Salvon. The two scores brought the Engineers within a goal at 3-2 with 16:55 to play in the half. The Bombers took control of the game during the ensuing stretch.
 
Rice sparked Ithaca's big scoring run with back-to-back goals 58-seconds apart to widen the margin back to three goals at 5-2. Hallack and Wagener scored goals 1:50 apart to extend the advantage to 7-2. Rice added her third of the day with 9:13 remaining in the half, while Herr and Wagener capped the scoring with goals in the final six-minutes.
 
The Bombers looked poised to potentially lock-in the running clock during the early moments of the second half. Hallack finished off a great pass from Wagener in the slot to push the IC lead to 11-2. However, RPI battled back with a 5-2 scoring run during the middle portion of the half to close the margin to just six goals at 13-7 with 12:33 to play.
 
Ithaca's defense locked down over the final minutes to stymie RPI's comeback bid. Motkowski snapped IC's 13-minute goal drought with her 19^th of the season with 7:12 remaining. The Bombers iced things with just under three-minutes left. Varma tallied a woman-up goal with 2:54 to play, while Simoncini polished things off by winning the ensuing draw control and sprinting into the attacking end before rifling a shot upstairs.
 
Ithaca will be back in action on Friday, April 19, when it travels to Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., to face Bard in a Liberty League clash at 4:00 p.m.