The Ithaca College women’s lacrosse team was jumping with joy and dancing in the rain after defeating the Union College Garnet Chargers on May 4. Despite the heavy rain and fog, the Bombers fought hard and clawed their way to back-to-back Liberty League Championship Tournament titles. The win marked Ithaca’s second Liberty League title in program history.
The Bombers came out roaring to start the game. Graduate student attacker Hayley Armstrong found sophomore attacker Kelly Augeri charging down the right side, where Augeri put the Bombers up 1-0 early. Offense was hard to come by in the first quarter, but nearly six minutes later, junior midfielder Lily Cody drew a free position and she put it in the back of the net to give the Bombers a 2-0 lead.
It took the Garnet Chargers 10 minutes to finally crack the zero on the scoreboard, capitalizing on an errant pass by the Bombers to take it the other way. Following the Union goal, IC rebounded on a bouncer by Augeri that made its way past Union’s first-year goalkeeper Sierra Harris to give IC a 3-1 advantage. The Bombers looked to make it a three-goal lead on the very next possession, but a wide-open play with Armstrong up front was broken up at the last second.
The second quarter saw Augeri lead the charge on offense for IC. After Union evened the score at 3-3 to start the quarter, Augeri went on a tear, recording back-to-back free position goals to put the Bombers back up by two. On IC’s next possession, Armstrong found Augeri cutting to the right where she potted her fifth of six goals of the afternoon.
Augeri said that working to find a clear shooting space has been something she has worked on throughout the season, leading to her scoring 51 goals as of May 5, only second on the team behind Cody with 52.
“My teammates were looking for me and that’s what got me there,” Augeri said. “It’s all the credit to them, the seniors and the coaches.”
The weather began to pick up in the second half and so did the Garnet Chargers’ offense. Union outscored IC 5-1 in the third quarter, looking to turn the shift in energy into a Liberty League title. Despite the ugly weather and the Garnet Chargers’ comeback, fans stayed resilient and brought noise in the second half. The fans’ noise was rewarded when junior attacker Leigh Naturale beat the buzzer with a strike to give IC the lead in the waning seconds of the third.
In the fourth quarter, the fog played a significant factor in swinging the momentum. Both teams made several errant passes and turned the ball over. The Bombers came out firing, as senior midfielder Elizabeth Green took it to the net herself, followed by Augeri’s third free position goal of the game, putting the Bombers up 13-10.
With just under five minutes remaining and the Bombers up 14-11, the Garnet Chargers had one last push in them. Union capitalized on a fast break opportunity and a breakaway to trim the deficit to 14-12, with just over two minutes remaining. With a two-goal lead, IC burned the clock on its final possession but unfortunately turned it over to Union.
Following the turnover, the Garnet Chargers brought everyone in the stands to their feet by scoring with 31 seconds remaining to make it a one-goal game. Union controlled the draw and then immediately called timeout. Unfortunately for Union, the timeout did not pan out as the clock hit triple zeros on its comeback attempt, securing the victory for the Bombers. The Bombers’ sideline stormed the field, rushing to surround first-year goalkeeper Mikaela Dattilo in celebration of another title.
Augeri said the team prioritizes having each other’s backs in close-game situations such as the team’s tournament run.
“Union is a great team and we knew they were going to come out super strong,” Augeri said. “We knew we had to keep chipping back. Conditions were bad but they were bad for them too, so we can’t have that as an excuse.”
Augeri, who won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award, said that winning another Liberty League title was a credit to what the program has built over the past two seasons.
“Everyone has gotten me here,” Augeri said. “I’m just a small part of a really big team.”
With the win, the Bombers will advance to the NCAA Division III Lacrosse Championship beginning May 10 for the second consecutive season, where they will face off against SUNY Oswego in Middlebury, Vermont.
