BROCKPORT, N.Y. – The 18^th-ranked Ithaca College women's lacrosse team continued its hellacious road swing on Saturday morning when it hit the road to face 20^th-ranked Brockport in a matinee clash at 11:00 a.m. The Bombers continued to churn through its early-season slate, earning a third consecutive win against a team ranked in the IWLCA Top-25 with a 14-10 triumph over the Golden Eagles. The win improves IC's record to 4-0 on the year.
 
The early-season gauntlet was a major talking point coming into the year, as IC figured to find out some answers about its newly constructed 2020 lineup early on. When the final horn blew on Saturday, IC continued to have the answers for every one of its early season tests, as another sharp offensive performance was matched with excellent defensive intensity in a yet-another ranked win. Not only did Saturday's result further bolster Ithaca's non-league resume, but also gave the Bombers another crucial head-to-head win over a regional program that could prove crucial later on this season. Now with three ranked wins on its ledger, two of which coming on the road at SUNYAC rivals, Ithaca's resume ranks among the nation's best through three weeks of the season.
 
Junior midfielder Jacqui Hallack had a career day to pace an IC offense that saw seven players register at least one point. The third-year talent continued her fantastic start to the season with her fourth consecutive hat-trick outing to begin the season. She finished the day with a career high eight points, matching her previous career best with seven goals and adding one helper to lead all scorers. She continued to stuff the stat sheet four draw controls and six ground-balls in a dominating two-way effort.
 
Adding a hat trick on the day was senior midfielder Katie Welch who has really emerged as a strong source of offense for the Bombers in recent games. It was her second hat trick in four outing this season, while she has now notched multi-goal games in four straight to begin the year. Four other IC players tallied single goals on the day. Junior Alexa Ritchie, Madison Boutureira, Indira Varma and Alex Rabb each tallied one score. Senior attacker Bailey Herr had a second straight quiet outing occupying significant attention from the Golden Eagles, finishing with a single assist on the day.
 
Defensively, Ithaca forced 10 total caused turnovers on the day. Junior midfielder Rachel Rosenberg had a stifling effort, forcing four caused turnovers on the day to bring her season total to a team-high nine through four games. Senior Becky Mehorter and sophomore Kelly Mehorter each posted one caused turnover, while junior Megan Motkowski and seniors Katie Welch and Bailey Herr each added forced turnovers on the day.
 
Junior keeper Mackenzie Schade continued to breakout as a storyline for the Bombers in the cage. She backed an eight-save performance last weekend at 22^nd-ranked Cortland with a career-best 12 saves to stymie Brockport's potent attack.
 
Ithaca took control of today's contest with a six-goal run midway through the first half, giving IC a multi-goal lead it would not relinquish through the duration of regulation. Five Bombers netted goals during the run, which was sparked when Welch rifled home her second of the day with 18:31 left. Ritchie gave Ithaca its first lead a minute later with another slick snap-shot. Boutureira pushed the lead to 5-3 with 12:01 left, finishing off a nice feed from Hallack. Hallack followed that strike with a free-position snipe 31-seconds after the Boutureira score, while she netted her third of the day with 9:22 to play. Alex Rabb capped the run with 7:06 left in the half, converting a feed from Herr behind the net to Rabb in the slot for the quick pop-shot.
 
The two sides traded goals 19-seconds apart with just over three-minutes left. Erin Wegrzyn briefly halted the run to make the score 8-4, but Hallack responded with a great individual effort, winning the ensuing draw and taking things all the way to the net for her fourth of the half. Brockport cut the IC lead to 9-5 just before the break when Courtney Cunningham scored with 39-seconds remaining.
 
It was the Hallack and Schade show for much of the second half for the Bombers. Hallack scored three of IC's five second half scores to maintain the multi-goal lead, while Schade did well to come up with several clutch saves during a Brockport charge midway through the half. The Golden Eagles strung together a 4-1 scoring run over an eight-minute span to cut the IC lead to 12-10 with 12:03 to play.
 
Welch scored a big momentum turning goal just 50-seconds after Cassidy Burnash's scoring finish, reestablishing the three-goal edge. Rosenberg played a big part in locking things down from there, making three caused turnovers down the stretch. Hallack put the finishing score for either side with her seventh of the day with 7:42 to play.
 
Ithaca will continue its challenging road slate on Wednesday, March 11, when the Bombers head to No. 17 Colorado College for its Spring Break trip. The contest is scheduled to get underway at 5:30 p.m. EST.