ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's lacrosse team will begin its 2024 season on Sunday, February 25 at 3 p.m. against Scranton at Higgins Stadium. The game was originally scheduled to be played at 12 p.m. on Saturday, but weather conditions pushed the contest back.
The Bombers are coming off a 12-8 season from 2023, which ended in the Liberty League championship game to William Smith, and eliminated IC from NCAA contention for the first time since 2018.
Head coach
Karrie Moore returns for her ninth season and eclipsed 100 career victories in 2023 and is just 15 wins away from becoming the program's all-time winningest coach. Moore also welcomes back assistant coaches
Madison Mulligan and
Casey O'Neill, along with a loaded and experience roster.
This year, Ithaca will navigate the 16-game schedule with 27 players on its roster and 21 returners, which includes the Bombers' entire starting lineup from a season ago.
Ithaca scored 272 goals last season and 266 of those are back. All-Americans
Maizy Veitch and
Caroline Wise lead the way, as they accounted for 96 goals and 39 assists. Wise was also one of the top draw control specialists in the country with 192 wins last season.
The Bombers will also look to
Chloe Nordyke (48 goals, 15 assists),
Sydney Phillips (47 goals, 7 assists) and
Maddie Hall (24 goals, 11 assists) as top scoring threats.
Hayley Armstrong was IC's top facilitator last year with 29 assists, to go along with seven goals, while
Lexi Kellish added 13 goals and five assists.
Lily Cody (9 goals, 8 assists),
Leigh Naturale (10 goals, 3 assists) and
Elizabeth Green (10 goals, 2 assists) will also see significant action this year.
On defense,
Phoebe Hosford (20 groundballs, 11 caused turnovers),
Liney Dutchyshyn (21 GB, 10 CT),
Maggie Mandel (23 GB, 15 CT),
Olivia Puppo (27 GB, 17 CT) and
Kaitlyn Russell (29 GB, 27 CT) will make things difficult all season for opposing offenses.
In goal,
Lexi Held is back after playing over 1000 minutes in cage last year. Held made 189 saves with a .499 save percentage and 10.69 GAA. A similar season for Held will move her into the top three all-time in saves.
Other returners this season are
Lauren Russell,
Tess Ferguson,
Juliana Esposito,
Jocelyn Cote and
Katelyn Ikle. Newcomers are
Lilly Pena,
Kelly Augeri,
Sydney Smith,
Paige Smith,
Sarah Bernier and
Katrina Clark.
Following the opener against Scranton, the Bombers will face a grueling nationally ranked schedule. IC hits the road for four straight games against Brockport on March 2, No. 23 Cortland on March 6, No. 13 Trinity (Conn.) on March 13 in Sparks, Md. and RIT on March 16.
The Bombers will then return home to face No. 14 St. John Fisher on March 23 and head back on the road against Rochester on March 27. A home game is up next against Union on March 30 before IC heads to the North Country on April 5-6 to battle Clarkson and St. Lawrence.
On April 10, the Bombers welcome No. 3 William Smith to Higgins Stadium to kick-off a four-game homestand. RPI comes to South Hill on April 13, following by Union and Bard on April 19-20.
The regular season concludes with road games at Hamilton on April 24 and Skidmore on April 27.
The Liberty League Tournament begins with first round games on April 30, followed by the semifinals on May 3 and the championship on May 5.
