ITHACA, N.Y. – The 19^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team opened up its much-anticipated 2020 season on Saturday afternoon at a sun-splashed Higgins Stadium when old Empire 8 rival Nazareth College came to South Hill for a 1:00 p.m. start. Behind a dynamic offensive performance, the Bombers made quick work of the Golden Flyers in an impressive 23-8 victory to begin the year on an encouraging note. The win was the sixth-straight for the IC women in season openers dating back to the 2015 season.
 
Coming into the year, it was a new-look attack and draw control that had fans curious of what to expect from the Bombers this season. IC has been synonymous with prolific scoring during head coach Karrie Moore's tenure; however, IC's 2020 attack unit was likely the lightest in terms of game experience during the coach's five-year tenure on South Hill. Although its still quite early in the year, Saturday's performance definitely began to answer some of those lingering questions, as five Bombers netted hat tricks and eight total IC players found their way onto the scoring sheet in a dominant offensive effort. The 23 goals scored were the most scored in a season opener dating back to a 25-0 shutout of Wells in 2007. The draw circle was also encouraging with Ithaca more than holding its own finishing the day with 16 wins in 33 total chances.
 
Senior attacker Bailey Herr paced Ithaca with a huge day to kick off her final collegiate season. Entering the season with her sights set on the program's all-time career scoring record, the senior talent put together a nice down payment towards that goal with a game-high seven points in the win. She finished the day with four goals and three assists, in the process climbing past Shawn Benoiel '82 (205) and into a tie with IC Athletics Hall of Famer Jessica Welch '03 for sixth all-time on the program's scoring list with 207 career points. Herr also finished the day with five draw controls to lead all IC players.
 
Herr was not the only IC player to score with regularity on Saturday afternoon. With IC needing to identify some new go-to sources of offense this season, IC had three players answer the bell in resounding fashion on Saturday. The junior trio of midfielders Megan Motkowski and Indira Varma, as well as attacker Alexa Ritchie all put together career days in the lopsided victory. The group accounted for 15 total points registered on the day with 12 goals and three assists.
 
Motkowski headlined the group with a huge six-point effort, finishing the day with three goals and three assists. She also played a big role as a chaser on draws, finishing with four controls on the day to finish second on the club.
 
Ritchie entered the year with considerable hype as a breakout candidate this season and certainly did not disappoint in that pursuit on Saturday. Playing as a reserve for most of her first two seasons at IC, Ritchie entered Saturday's opener with a career stat line of just six total points on five goals and one assist. She nearly equaled that mark in one half of play this afternoon, while she finished the day with a team-high five goals to lead all Bombers. Although the sample size is small, her performance certainly reminded of another recent IC graduate in Elizabeth Rice '19 who had a relatively quiet first two seasons with the program, before exploding for 130 goals during her final two years. IC will certainly hope this is just the beginning for the talented junior.
 
Varma also looked impressive on the day. A solid secondary contributor during her first two seasons with the program, Varma finished the afternoon with a new career high of four goals.
 
Rounding out the scoring for Ithaca were senior Katie Welch, as well as juniors Jacqui Hallack and Alex Rabb. Hallack's day really got going during the second half, as she netted all four of her scores during the final 30-minutes. Welch posted two goals on the afternoon, while Rabb added a single tally. Junior attack Madison Boutureira chipped in one point on an assist.
 
Complementing the impressive offensive performance was a determined defensive effort that began with a unrelenting ride that held Nazareth to just a 12-for-21 mark in successful clear attempts. The Bombers caused 14 of Nazareth's 25 total turnovers on the day with six IC players getting in on the act.
 
Senior Becky Mehorter got off to a strong start to her final season with a big effort to pace the group. She finished with a game-high four caused turnovers, while her sophomore sister Kelly Mehorter had a career day with three caused turnovers and three ground-balls in her first career start. Junior midfielders Caroline Grant and Rachel Rosenberg each finished with two caused turnovers, while Hallack also added two caused turnovers and three draw controls in her strong two-way performance. Welch posted one caused turnover, while junior Molly Nodiff was credited with two ground-balls and was a primary disruptor in the defensive end for IC throughout the day.
 
Junior keeper Mackenzie Schade got the start in the cage and played the first 30-minutes on Saturday afternoon. She got credit for win as the goalie of record, finishing with one save and four goals allowed. Sophomore Lillian Matz got the nod for the second half and performed well in relief, finishing with three saves and also conceding four goals.
 
It was a fast start that set tone for the day, as IC raced out to a large lead before Nazareth could find its footing. The Bombers dominated both ends of the field to rattle off 10 consecutive goals over the opening 19:19 of the first half. Ritchie and Herr each netted hat tricks during the run, while Welch, Varma and Rabb each scored once. Free-position opportunities were especially lucrative for IC in the early going with three of its first five goals from the fan. Ritchie in particular had a couple highlight level scores from the spot, displaying a sinister snap-shot that certainly looked to have some added sizzle from a season ago.
 
After IC locked in a running clock for the first time on the day, the hosts let off the pedal a little bit and Nazareth took advantage with a four-goal run to briefly cause a little consternation among the Ithaca ranks. Emma States netted two goals, while Addilys Geitner and Tori Blazey each scored once during the 2:16 span which saw IC's 10-goal lead shrink to six. The Bombers restored order down the stretch with Ritchie lasering home her third free-position goal of the day with 2:33 left in the half and Motkowski whipping home a side-angle shot from the right wing with 21-seconds to play in the frame.
 
The two sides traded goals during the opening 15-minutes of the second half, as the IC lead continued to teeter along the 10-goal margin. Hallack was IC's primary beneficiary during this stretch, scoring three times which included a nifty scoop-and-score off her own rebound for the hat trick score with 14:46 left.
 
The Bombers dominated the back half of the second, finishing the game with a 6-0 scoring run to put the icing on the season opening romp. Motkowski and Varma each found the back of the net twice to complete hat trick performances, while Welch and Hallack added onto their multi-goal afternoons.
 
Ithaca will see the challenge intensify next weekend when the Bombers continue the season-opening homestand on Wednesday afternoon, as 20^th-ranked University of Scranton comes to town for a 4:00 p.m. start at Higgins Stadium.