Following a thrilling season which saw them go to the NCAA regionals, the Ithaca women’s lacrosse team gets set to embark shortly on its 2025 season, one in which the Bombers enter currently ranked No. 11 by the NCAA IWLCA Coaches Poll. The Bombers look to expand upon their best season to date in the Liberty League.
It was a dream season for the Bombers in Spring 2024, finishing 10-0 in the Liberty League. They also defeated their longtime Liberty League nemesis William Smith Herons twice at Higgins Stadium, putting the finishing touches on a masterful conference slate. The Bombers are 26-37 all-time against the Herons, dating back to April 1973.
The Bombers concluded their 2024 campaign with a 17-9 defeat in the NCAA third round against Pomona-Pitzer College. For the South Hill squad, a chapter was closing, as it was the last time that several impactful seniors would be taking the field.
One of the key factors to the Bombers’ success was offense. The trio of All-Americans Caroline Wise ‘24, Maizy Veitch ‘24 and Sydney Phillips ‘24 all placed in the top offensive categories in the Liberty League last season. Wise finished third in assists per game (1.94) and ninth in points per game (3.78). Veitch finished sixth in the conference in goals per game (2.95), fifth in assists per game (1.75), third in points per game (4.7) and sixth in shots per game (6.2). Phillips finished seventh in the conference in goals per game (2.85) and ninth in shots per game (5.4).
Graduate student attacker Chloe Nordyke also returns this season, who registered 81 of her 88 collegiate goals on South Hill in her junior and senior seasons.
A challenge facing the team this season is the departure of goaltender Lexi Held ‘24. On South Hill, Held was a force between the pipes, boasting a third-best goals per game average, only surrendering a slim (9.22) per game in 2024, also coming second in the conference in save percentage (50.8) and second in saves per game (9.20). This year, the Bombers are tasked with navigating between first-year goaltenders Mikaela Dattilo and Jocelyn Cote to see who will emerge in the starters’ role.
Despite the loss of multiple high-performing seniors, the Bombers still maintain the same optimism as they did entering the 2024 season.
Junior midfielder Lily Cody, a preseason All-American, said an energized group of underclassmen is a byproduct of the foundation that was laid by the Class of 2024.
“There are so many new players stepping up and the energy has been intense at practice,” Cody said. “The graduating class of seniors set the tone at practice last season for what was to be expected.”
Cody said the motivation for last year’s senior class came from the team’s toughest moment; a rejection from the NCAA Regional Tournament in 2023.
“We learned a lot from them after we had that rough season,” Cody said. “They were preaching revenge throughout the course of last winter.”
Bombers senior defender Kaitlyn Russell said the Bombers were able to find success last season as a result of their selflessness.
“Last winter, we worked extra hard and made sure our bodies were in shape and ready to compete because we had a lot to give and prove to one another,” Russell said.
While players used revenge as their motivator, head coach Karrie Moore, who since her arrival on South Hill in 2015 has guided the team to a 122-39 overall record, said she sees things a little differently.
“The message I preached to our team after 2023 was — It’s the same thing as when people complain about the officiating — ‘Just win by more and you won’t have to worry,” Moore said.
That mindset ultimately led the Bombers to the most successful season in program history, as the Bombers compiled an 18-2 record in 2024, winning 15 straight games, also capturing its first Liberty League title, and reaching the NCAA Division III Regional Third Round.
While looking back on last year is fun, Moore said she wants to make sure that a reputable brand of lacrosse is here to stay.
“I want people to know and feel that it wasn’t just one great senior class that we had, this is what our program standard is about,” Moore said.
