ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's lacrosse team will look to claim its third straight Liberty League title this week as the Bombers are the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Clarkson on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Higgins Stadium.
GAME COVERAGE:
WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME PROGRAM
LIBERTY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP INFO: The Liberty League Women's Lacrosse Championship is made up of seven teams. The No. 1 seed receives a first round bye, while other six qualifying teams play on April 28 to solidify the semifinals, which take place on Friday, May 1.
The semifinal winners will play on Sunday, May 3 for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
Ithaca has won each of the past two titles, while William Smith had won the previous seven championships.
POTENTIAL SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS: The winner of IC and Clarkson will play the winner of Union vs. RIT. Rochester and St. Lawrence compete in the No. 4/5 matchup and that winner heads to William Smith on Friday.
ITHACA VS. CLARKSON: Ithaca hosts Clarkson in the first round of the Liberty League Championship this Tuesday at Higgins Stadium. Ithaca is 8-1 all-time against the Golden Knights, dating back to 2018, but the lone win for Clarkson came this season by way of an 18-16 decision. The Bombers had won the previous eight meetings by an average of 8.5 goals per game.
MORE ABOUT THE BOMBERS: The Bombers bring an 11-5 record into the Liberty League Tournament and is the two-time defending champions.
The Bombers spot a three-headed at attack on offense between
Leigh Naturale,
Kelly Augeri and
Lily Cody. The trio has combined for 63-percent of the team's offense this season, scoring 203 of the 324 points. Naturale leads the way with 71 points on 37 goals and 34 assists, while Augeri has 45 goals and 23 assists. Cody has added 41 goals and 23 assists, go along with 112 draws, 34 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers.
Kathryn Scallon and
Aubrey Holowinski will also be impact players on the offensive end with 50 combined goals.
Gabrielle Crellin and
Phoebe Hosford are the players to watch on defense. Crellin leads the team with 26 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls, while Hosford has 29 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers.
Mikaela Dattilo is 11-5 for the Bombers and has made 124 saves in 932 minutes of action.
GETTING TO KNOW THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS: Clarkson is 10-7 on the season, but is just 2-5 over the past seven games. The Golden Knights are the second-highest scoring team in the league at 14.1 goals per game and are second in scoring margin at 4.3 goals per outing.
Gabby Cranfield is the top offensive threat for Clarkson with 84 points on the season, which ranks second in the Liberty League. Cranfield has tallied 36 goals with 48 assists, the latter leads the conference by 13.
Makenna Cassin is the leading goal scorer with 42, while Sydney Nakas has 56 points this season on 25 goals and 31 assists. Karli Scherpf and Brooklynne Perrigo each have 27 goals on the year, while Scherpf leads the team with 49 draws.
Cassin is also a player to watch on draws with 48, while her 33 caused turnovers and 32 ground balls are second on the squad. Mea Tranquilli is the team leader in caused turnovers and ground balls with 35.
Riley Donovan has played more the 720 minutes in cage and is 9-5 on the season with a 10.85 GAA and .413 save percentage.
