The Ithaca Bombers field hockey team was unable to overcome an early Skidmore lead and fell to the Thoroughbreds 2-1 on Sunday afternoon in Saratoga Springs.

The Bombers outshot Skidmore 22-8 and had 12 penalty corners to Skidmore's three, but were unable to score on any of those corners. Midfielder Eliza Ballaro had the only goal for Ithaca and it did not come from a corner. Ballaro also led the team in shots with five, followed by forward Caroline Folan and fellow midfielders Payton Yahner and Brooke Snider, who each had three. Goalkeeper Maeve Clark recorded five saves in net.

It was a relatively slow first few minutes offensively. In the first four minutes of play, Folan had the only two shots for either side. However, Skidmore was able to execute on their first penalty corner, with forward Abby Ezickson sending a crossing pass to forward Emma Houff for the first goal of the game.

The goal created momentum for Skidmore, as they dominated possession the rest of the quarter. The Thoroughbreds put up five unanswered shots, and Colby Paul scored the second Skidmore goal with about two minutes on the first quarter clock. 

The Bombers ended the quarter with a couple of corner opportunities, but were unable to capitalize before time ran out. This would be a continued theme throughout the game.

Ithaca dominated the second quarter on both sides of the ball, and managed to score their first goal of the game. Ballaro escaped a Skidmore defender in the scoring circle and unleashed a blazing shot that was too fast for Skidmore goalkeeper Nicole Sylvestri, cutting the Thoroughbred lead in half. The Bombers defense was also excellent, holding Skidmore without a shot in this quarter. Ithaca headed into the halftime break outshooting Skidmore 8-5 and hungry for the equalizer goal.

While Ithaca continued to outshoot Skidmore in the third quarter, they were unable to score the equalizer. Skidmore held strong during a trio of consecutive Ithaca corners around four minutes into the quarter, maintaining their single-goal lead.

Skidmore slowed the pace in the fourth quarter, looking to burn clock and ice the game. Another series of corners gave Ithaca some final opportunities down the stretch, but they could not find the back of the net. Their final corner came with four seconds on the clock, giving Ithaca one final opportunity, but Snider's shot was swatted away by a Skidmore defender, securing the Thoroughbreds victory.

Ithaca falls to 3-3 in Liberty League play after the loss, the same record that Skidmore improves to. They also fall to 10-5 on the year at large. They'll look to get back above .500 in the conference standings when they travel to William Smith on Saturday.