Hartwick Women’s Soccer Falls to #7 Ithaca
ITHACA, NY- The host Ithaca women's soccer team scored twice within minutes of each other in the first period and that would be all they would need as the #7 ranked Bombers defeated the Hartwick women 2-0 on Wednesday afternoon. The Hawks fall to 3-4-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the Empire 8 while Ithaca remains a perfect 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the Empire 8.
The Bombers started the game with six straight shots before the Hawks would rattle off four of their own. In the 35th minute, IC's Ellyn Grant-Keane would pass to Kelsey King on the right side of the midfield and King would slide to the ground shot and loft a shot in the upper-right corner of the net to give the Bombers a 1-0 lead. Less than four minutes later, Grant-Keane would find Jamie Ruddy for the score on a two-on-one attack down the right side and Ithaca would go ahead 2-0.
In the second half, the Hawks held a 6-4 advantage in shots but could not find the back of the net. In the 66th minute, Mackenzie Shipley (Sedro Wooley, WA/Sedro Wooley) headed the ball toward the goal but Bomber goalkeeper Becca Salant was there to turn it away.
"I thought we played really well today," said head coach Matt Verni. "We had a five minute lapse of concentration where we conceded a couple of goals but we had a lot of scoring opportunities off of free kicks. Overall, I'm really proud of the efforts that the team gave today and we feel very positive moving forward."
The Bombers would end the game with a 15-12 lead in shots. Ithaca also led in corner kicks, 5-3.
Hope Brown (Sherburne, NY/Sherburne-Earlville) started in goal for the Hawks and stopped five shots. Salant turned away five shots for Ithaca.
Hartwick returns home for a tough non-conference match with #23 ranked Union this Saturday at Elmore Field. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
