ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 23 Ithaca College field hockey capped off its regular season with a thrilling 2-1 victory over No. 17 Ursinus College on Senior Day at Higgins Stadium as the non-conference matchup went into a penalty shootout and the Bombers came out on top, 4-2. IC is now 13-5 on the season and will take its seven-game winning streak into the Liberty League Championship.
Natalie Descalso scored the decisive stroke on IC's fifth attempt to give IC its first win over Ursinus and the program's four victory over a nationally ranked opponent this season.
Brenna Schoenfeld started the shootout off with a successful try and then
Abby Hennessy put home the second goal.
Meara Bury put some distance between IC and Ursinus with a 3-1 edge and then
Maeve Clark came up huge with two stop in the first four tries for the Bears.
Clark played one of the best games of her career as she finished the game with 13 saves, many of which were diving stops.
Ithaca wasted no time getting on the board as
Madeleine Goodman stole a clearance attempt and found
Catherine Papa on the run into the circle and she beat the Ursinus goalie to take a 1-0 lead with 13:42 left in the first quarter.
IC dominated possession the remainder of the quarter and took three more shots, but only one was on target. Ursinus managed one shot late in the period but it was well wide of target. IC held onto its one-goal lead for the rest of the half.
Ursinus turned up the pressure in the second half and flipped a 5-3 deficit in shots to a 7-6 advantage, but Clark was up to the task and made three saves in the third quarter to maintain IC's 1-0 edge.
In the fourth quarter, IC earned a corner and had the ensuing shot blocked to set up a breakaway attempt for the Bears' leading scorer, but
Reese Abrahamson stepped up and stole the ball to thwart a game-tying opportunity with just under 12 minutes to go.
Ursinus tied the game at 1-1 with 8:22 left in regulation as the Bears capitalized off the fifth corner attempt in a matter of 45 seconds. The Bombers would earn five corners the rest of the way but were unable to score off those changes and the game would go to overtime.
IC went down a player early in the first overtime session and Ursinus had a 1-v-1 chance to win the game, but Clark made a sprawling save and the Bears earned a corner. Clark made another save off the corner and IC killed the penalty.
It was a high intensity second overtime period that witnessed golden chances for both teams to end the game, but a penalty shootout was in store after 80 minutes of action.
IC would prevail in the shootout for a key resume victory.
The Bombers are home next Friday, November 8 for a Liberty League Semifinal matchup against the winner of Skidmore and William Smith. If victorious, the Bombers will host Union or Rochester in the championship game on November 10.
