After 2024’s historic performance, the Ithaca College field hockey team is unfazed by expectations and ready to put in the effort to return to the NCAA Division III Championships.
The Bombers ended last season by becoming Liberty League Champions for the first time since the program’s founding in 1968. They ranked 19th in the nation. Despite that, they quickly exited the NCAA Championships in a 2-0 loss against the No. 3 Wesleyan University Cardinals on Nov. 13, 2024.
Head coach Kaitlyn Wahila said her biggest takeaway from the post season was that the team needed to get faster. She led players during the spring in strength and conditioning drills to increase their speed on the field.
“We competed in that first round NCAA game against a really strong and athletic Wesleyan,” Wahila said. “To be honest, I think our tactics were very equal, if not even better than theirs, but I think where we were lacking was just, in general, our ability to play at a faster pace.”
Junior goalkeeper Maeve Clark said speed is especially important for her as a goalie, not only for reaction times, but also to be able to move below the penalty shot line.
“I’m never going to run up to the other end of the field,” Clark said. “That’s not in my position, but I will have to get to … a five-foot distance or a five-yard distance as fast as I can to make a tackle or to make a play.”
Wahila said while the team’s ultimate goal is to reach NCAA tournament play, she is focused on not comparing its performance to past seasons.
“Over the last four or five years, it’s become the standard that our program is moving toward,” Wahila said. “We’re lucky that now our student-athletes have been a part of that environment. They’ve been in those pressure situations, whether they’ve been on the sideline or whether they’ve been inside the lines. Our returners have experienced it, so now they want it. I believe that our student-athletes know that nothing is guaranteed and everything is earned and it’s gonna be on them to put in the work.”
Since last season, seven players have graduated. The only returning starters are senior striker Brenna Schoenfeld, senior defender Reese Abrahamson, senior midfielder Eliza Ballaro and Clark. Wahila said she is looking for the team’s upperclassmen to bring high energy and experience to the field. Of the 28-person roster, 12 are juniors.
“Some of them have more minutes inside the lines than others, but they all understand what we’re after,” Wahila said. “It’s just going to be important for them to bring a level of consistency to the table.”
Although Clark is a junior, this is only her second year with the Bombers. She transferred from Monmouth University in Fall 2024 and she said she spent the year feeling like a first-year student again, getting used to the team’s style of play and teammates’ personalities.
“The transfer process was a really hard one, but you learn a lot about yourself in it,” Clark said. “It’s made me more confident. … I’ve gotten my first year jitters out of the way.”
Sophomore striker Mia Woodard had a similar experience. After spending a season with the team, Woodard said her biggest goal is to get out of her comfort zone.
“One thing I learned during the spring season last year was to not be afraid of myself,” Woodard said. “Last year, I was just kind of shy and timid and then we got to the spring season and I tried to open up more and that helped me form those stronger connections.”
While the large number of graduates changed relationships within the team, Woodard said the returning and new players have adapted and are ready to work as a cohesive unit.
“The group of girls that graduated, we all loved them so much, but people that are coming up, we feel just as much love [for them],” Woodard said.
Clark said the team’s chemistry brings great energy to the field and everyone’s contributions are celebrated.
“Our team has a really good system of feeding off of each other and feeding off of the hype,” Clark said. “When the offense takes a really great shot, that gets the defense super hype. It does work the same way where I make a great save, and my defense is on it. … It brings a lot of energy to the field, whenever anybody does something well.”
When it comes to personal goals, Clark said she’s working to continue shutouting opponents, which she did six times last season, but shutouts go beyond her efforts in the goal.
“A shutout isn’t just me,” Clark said. “It’s whether our offense is recovering back. It’s whether our defense is stepping to the ball first. I’m the last person in line, so obviously it’s great when I make a save, but there are so many things that get involved.”
The Bombers are in action against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at Higgins Stadium. The team has only won once against the Dragons since 2000, but Wahila said everyone on the team is looking forward to the matchup.
“It’s always fun to play Cortland,” Wahila said. “This is my ninth season. I’ve only beat Cortland once as the head coach, and that was in 2018. … It’s always a very exciting game, very action-packed.”
