Ithaca downs Lynchburg 2-0 women’s soccer
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Ithaca College (17-2-2) scored two goals in the second half to lead the Bombers past the Lynchburg College (21-1-3) women’s soccer team 2-0 in the Sweet 16 round of the 2008 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, hosted by Williams College.The loss was the first one of the season for the Hornets of Lynchburg and it was the sixth consecutive shutout recorded by Ithaca
On a snowy and cold afternoon, the Ithaca Bombers adapted well to the conditions that featured biting cold and a mostly frozen playing surface on Cole Field.
In the first half, Lynchburg fought off a few scoring opportunities thanks to solid defensive play. Midway throughout the first half, Ithaca played a through ball to Winnie Adrien, who was stoned on a one-one-one by LC keeper Jackie Bader (Fort Washington, MD/Bishop Ireton).
Later on in the first stanza, the Bombers again had a scoring chance when a loose ball was run onto by Adrien, and a hard blast was again knocked off the line by Bader. "We had a lot of early opportunities with the wind in the first half and I was hoping we would come out of it with a 1-0 lead," said Ithaca head coach Mindy Quigg. "I felt good that we were creating the opportunities, but I was not on the field so I could not be sure how it was impacting play.
As it turned out the Bombers did not need the help of the wind to score or to mount consistent forays into the LC defensive third.
After the half, Ithaca broke through as a shot from Liz Masucci from twenty yards out was deflected by Bader up off the crossbar and over the goal line for the eventual game-winner. The Bombers got an insurance goal with just over eight minutes to go when Lauren Koppel received a headed ball from Chelsey Feldman and fired a shot from 15 yards out for the insurance goal.
"It came down to footing in the second half,: noted Lynchburg head coach Todd Olsen. "Ithaca is bigger and stronger than us and they seemed to adapt to the conditions better than we did. We're more technical and it ultimately affected how we did things. We lost to a very good team."
The conditions affected both teams. "We play together well," said Ithaca's Chelsey Feldman. "And when we're on the field we play as one. Whatever we're going to go through we're going to go hard and we're going to work at doing what we do."
Jackie Bader of Lynchburg made four saves on the day and allowed two goals, while the Bombers' Alyssa Sotomayor was credited with four saves in the shutout.
The Bombers move on to take on Williams College (MA) in the Elite Eight, as the Ephs knocked of The College of New Jersey 2-1 in the first game of the afternoon.
