BOXSCORE l
CUMULATIVE STATSSTEVENS 14, ST. JOHN FISHER 8ITHACA 12, STEVENS 11ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Ithaca scored the final three goals of the game to hold on and defeat host Nazareth 8-5 in the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for women's lacrosse. Sophomore Nora Davis tallied three goals for the Golden Flyers while senior Caity Richardson also added two goals.
With the victory, the fourth-seeded Bombers improve to 8-6 overall and advance to the tournament championship Sunday at 1 p.m. Ithaca will play third-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology, who defeated St. John Fisher 14-8 in the second semifinal game. Top-seeded Nazareth drops to 10-5 overall after suffering the loss. The winner of the Conference Tournament receives an automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Golden Flyers are now hoping to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Ithaca took a 2-0 lead in the first 8:08 of the game after Becky Bedard and Sarah Cox each scored. Davis cut the Golden Flyers' deficit to 2-1 with her first goal of the game after she received a pass from freshman Alyssa Mulheron. After the Bombers took a 3-1 lead following a goal from Kim Medla, Richardson answered with a goal for Nazareth with 5:15 remaining in the first half. Ithaca, however, scored two goals in the closing minutes of the half to take a 5-2 halftime lead.
The Golden Flyers came out soaring to begin the second half as they recorded three quick goals to tie the score with 24:48 left in the game. Davis started Nazareth's rally with a goal off another assist from Mulheron. After Richardson connected on a free position opportunity to cut Ithaca's lead to 5-4, Davis tallied her third goal to tie the game, 5-5.
With 22:50 left to play, Ithaca's Becky Bedard answered to reclaim the Bombers' lead, which gave Ithaca the lead for good. The Bombers added two more goals in the next seven minutes to pull away from the Golden Flyers. The Bombers controlled the possession for most of the final 20 minutes to prevent Nazareth from attempting another rally.
Ithaca held an advantage in shots (22-12) and ground balls (12-10) while the Golden Flyers had an edge in draw controls (8-7).
Junior goalie Maria Fusco finished with seven saves for Nazareth. Emily Brooks made two saves in goal for the Bombers.