MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Ithaca College women's lacrosse team improves to 14-6 on the season and advances to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship as the Bombers took down, Oswego, 17-13, on the campus of Middlebury College on Saturday. Ithaca will now take on the three-time defending national champion Panthers at 1 pm on Sunday, May 11.
The Bombers struck early as Elizabeth Green found the back of the net just 1:28 into the contest off a pass from Leigh Naturale, but Oswego responded with three unanswered goals of the next four minutes.
Ithaca got back on the board with a tally from Kelly Augeri, which was assisted by Hayley Armstrong with 8:37 to go in the quarter, and that sparked a five-goal run for the Bombers. Kathryn Scallon scored twice, while Lexi Kellish and Lily Cody also scored to put the Bombers up, 6-3.
The three-goal lead did not last for long as the Lakers closed out the final 2:43 of the first quarter by knotting the game at 6-6.
Oswego again took a lead, this time in the second quarter with three of the first four goals to notch a two-goal advantage, 9-7, with just over five minutes left in the half. Augeri took it upon herself to tie the game back up at 9-9 with back-to-back goals in less than a minute to send the game into halftime in a deadlock.
The Bombers outscored the Lakers, 8-4, in the second half to come away with the 17-13 win. Kellish tallied a hat trick, while Cody scored twice, to go along with goals from Augeri, Scallon and Naturale.
Augeri led the Bombers with six points on four goals and two assists, while Naturale also contributed six points on five assists and one goal. Cody added five points and Kellish finished the game with four points, while Scallon chipped in three.
Mikaela Dattilo made nine saves in the win and Gabrielle Crellin led the defense with three ground balls.