ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 10 Ithaca College women's lacrosse team shined in all four quarters on its way to a 15-8 route over Clarkson University in quarterfinal action at the 2022 Liberty League Championships on Tuesday evening at Higgins Stadium. The victory punches the 15-2 Bombers' ticket to the semifinals this weekend while Clarkson ends its season with a 9-6 record. With today's win, IC has matched the program record for victories in a season, which was set in 2001.
 
Ithaca's high-powered offense did not falter on the evening as it shot a prolific .405 percent and won the shots-on-goal battle 25-to-15. Sophomore Sydney Phillips led the way with five goals as senior Megan Motkowski and grad student Madison Boutureira followed behind with four of their own. Caroline Wise also did what she does best and led the team with eight draw controls.
 
Sophomore Lexi Held was excellent operating inside of the cage, tallying seven saves and boasting an efficient .467 save percentage.
 
IC put Clarkson in a hole early but surrendered three ensuing goals to tie the Golden Knights 3-3 after the opening 15 minutes. Phillips was the engine of the offensive attack in the early stages as the South Salem, N.Y. native notched three goals (two off free position shots) in the first four minutes to propel the Bombers to a 3-0 lead.
 
The Golden Knights responded midway through the first quarter and found the back of the cage twice in under 60 seconds by way of Sofie Mangino and Julia Lavarnway. With 42 seconds remaining in the stanza, Hailey Millington put another goal on the scoreboard to knot things up at 3-3.
 
Clarkson continued its scoring spree in the second quarter when Millington tacked on another goal one minute in to give the Golden Knights a 4-3 lead.
 
The Bomber offense overcame a subpar stretch and reawakened with 4:26 remaining in the first half when senior Megan Motkowski launched a goal past the Clarkson goalie to tie things back up at 4-4. Three minutes later, Motkowski lined up for a free position shot and nailed her second score of the game to regain the IC lead 5-4.
 
IC carried that momentum to the final stretch of the quarter when Phillips added an insurance effort with her fourth goal of the game to earn the hat trick.
 
The Bombers went 10-for-17 in the shots-on-goal department to take a 6-4 lead at halftime.
 
Following the break, Motkowski, Boutureira, and Maizy Veitch gave IC some more breathing room and netted three additional goals in the opening four minutes to surge the Bombers to a 9-4 advantage.
 
Ithaca kept its scoring run going and capped off the third quarter by tacking on three more goals to push its lead to 12-5.
 
That level of play remained in the final quarter as the Bombers bolstered an impressive .375 shooting percentage and added three more goals to seal the 15-8 home playoff victory.
 
Ithaca College returns to the field and will look to avenge an early-season loss to No. 13 St. Lawrence this Saturday in the conference semifinals in Geneva, N.Y. The starting time for the contest is TBA.