Field hockey falls to Cortland in 1-0 defensive battle

The Ithaca College field hockey team played its rival, the Cortland Red Dragons Sept. 10. The Bombers hosted the Red Dragons, but ended up falling short 1-0. IC’s record fell to 3-2 ahead of the Sept. 13 contest against the No. 17 SUNY Geneseo Knights.

This is the South Hill squad’s first meeting with formidable foe Cortland this season, but the Bombers have not beat the Red Dragons since 2018. The Bombers came into this game having won their last two games and junior goalkeeper Maeve Clark hasn’t allowed a goal since Aug. 31.

However, that streak snapped with Cortland scoring in the 21st minute. Cortland first-year forward Claire Flanagan scored her first goal of the season against Clark, assisted by senior midfielder Ava Passante.

The Bombers got off to a rocky start, unable to connect on passes in the offensive zone and unable to push the play forward into the shooting circle due to the Red Dragons’ interior defense, moving their sticks in lanes to block Bomber passes along the inside shooting circle. Cortland put up two of its four total shots in this quarter alone, but Clark kept the Bombers in it.

The second quarter started on quite a different note, with first-year midfielder Amelia MacDonald making an excellent pass to junior striker Brady Sullivan, but Sullivan just put the ball a little too high, which went over the net. The Bombers’ offense found its offensive game in the second period, jumping all over the Cortland defense. They had a whopping six shots and three corners but were unable to convert on the chances they received.

The Red Dragons found a way to capitalize on the Bombers’ mistakes, leading to a costly turnover, putting Cortland ahead 1-0 at the end of the period.

The third period started with some physical play on the far left side of the field between two IC strikers and a Cortland defender. But the story of this period was how Ithaca’s transition game really started to shine. The Bombers did an incredible job of defending Cortland’s rush in transition, applying pressure when needed and not overly committing onto one Red Dragon striker coming into the Bombers’ shooting circle. The Bombers would turn their defensive effort into a counter attack, forcing Cortland to give IC a corner. The Bombers would get two in that period. However they were still unable to capitalize due to an outstanding goaltending performance from Red Dragons senior goalkeeper Emma Morgan.

Morgan continued to shine when it mattered most, heading into the fourth and final period, in which she made three saves on four attempted shots and defended against an additional four corners. Morgan and the mature Red Dragons’ defense was what held Cortland in this one, giving Morgan her first shutout of the season. The Cortland team is extremely young and has nine first-year athletes on their 22-person roster.

“I think being such a young team, people underestimate us,” Morgan said. “I think that’s a real positive … to really push us to work hard this year to prove ourselves.”

The Bombers’ aggressive pressure forced Cortland to surrender nine total corners, however IC could not put one in. Head coach Kaitlyn Wahila said this is an area the team has to work on.

“I think it’s honestly going to be just practicing corners at practice,” Wahila said. “We have new people in new positions this year.”

The game finished with IC still pressing on and giving everything they had left in the tank.

Senior midfielder Eliza Ballaro came up with a great stop in the final minutes, still trying to make plays happen. Ballaro finished the game having the most shots out of any Bomber with three.

“One thing I really think we took away was that no matter what, this team is a huge support system for one another,” Ballaro said.

That will fuel them through this loss, to get ready for their match Sept. 13 against the Geneseo Knights. Ballaro also spoke about the passion of the team, to lift one another up. Through their extremely loud sideline, they never give up.

She continued to say how the Bombers needed to convert more on offensive chances and this is something that the team is going to have to practice.

“Connecting a bit more and really battling in our offensive circle,” Ballaro said. “It’s really crowded in there, and it’s just pushing just a little bit more to get it in the goal.”

After a 2-1 win against the Knights on Sept. 13, the Bombers look to continue their win streak against the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Higgins Stadium.