ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca Bombers women's soccer team hosted a Liberty League matchup against Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) on Tuesday. On paper this was a massive game between the two teams who have been building steam heading towards the upcoming Liberty League Tournament. In the past month of play, Ithaca and RIT combined for a record of 11-1 with an additional three ties and one no contest due to weather. The only loss was a 1-0 heartbreaker Ithaca suffered to No. 4 William Smith, whom RIT tied a week prior.
Ithaca's only goal given up in the past seven games of Liberty League competition was to a top five team in the country, so it was no surprise to the Bomber faithful when they held RIT to only two shots in the first half.
The Bombers offense was creating all sorts of opportunities close to the net, ending the half with eight shots. Many of those shots narrowly missed the corners of the net or sailed above the crossbar. Sarah Sinnot had two dangerous chances within a minute of each other but the second just narrowly missed finding the back of the net in the 26
th minute
The second half told much of the same story. The Bombers dominated time of possession all game but failed to end with any points on the board. They forced RIT to play solid defense in their third of the pitch for the final 45 minutes. Their big break just never came despite outshooting RIT 11-2 and earning two extra corners. Defense prevailed in this one with the score ending in a 0-0 tie.
The game had three big moments that had the fans excited: two coming from junior
Julia Cascone. Once in the early portion of each half, Cascone put on a clinic of fancy footwork. Each time causing the RIT defenders to fall flat onto the pitch lining up a clear shot. Unfortunately, IC was unable to squeeze anything through the Tigers stiff defense.
The final chance occurred with twelve minutes remaining in the game. Ithaca was able to earn a corner kick and with an excellent delivery from Cascone as the ball was teetering on the line to score. The Bombers had a mosh pit in the middle of the net when
Ally Stanton boomed a kick directly vertical and smacked the backside of the crossbar only to be batted out by the goalie. The ball didn't fully cross the goal line denying Ithaca the scoring chance.
With Tuesday's 0-0 draw, Ithaca College (9-2-3, 5-1-2 LL) will look to position themselves for the upcoming Liberty League tournament in their final contest of the regular season. The last game of the regular season and conference play will be against RPI this upcoming Saturday at 4 p.m. in Troy, NY.
