Bombers Defused by St. John Fisher in E8 Title Game

ITHACA, N.Y. – Top-seeded and 20th-ranked Ithaca (13-4) suffered a 9-7 setback to second-seeded St. John Fisher (14-4) in the Empire 8 Tournament championship game Saturday at Higgins Stadium.

Senior Siobhan Sullivan (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) and juniors Tracy Rivas (East Meadow/East Meadow) and Nikki Dahl (Columbus, Ohio/The Wellington School) were named to the Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse All-Tournament team.

Snapping Ithaca's school-record tying 10-game win streak, the Cardinals netted five of the game's final six goals to claim their third Empire 8 title in six years.

Dahl led the Bombers with two goals and an assist. Rivas scored one goal and added one assist and senior Nicole Borisenok (Watervliet/Albany Academy for Girls) tallied twice. Juniors Kim Armbruster (Boonton, N.J./Montville) and Michelle Avery (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) each scored once.

Sullivan, Borisenok and junior Kaitlyn Hoffay (Ithaca/Ithaca) scooped up four ground balls each. Avery and Dahl had two draw controls each and sophomore Jenna Marchinetti (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) forced a pair of turnovers.

Junior Jess Worthman (Commack/Hauppauge) made four stops in net for the Bombers.

The Bombers outshot St. John Fisher, 27-14, and owned a 21-16 advantage in ground balls, while the Cardinals posted 11 draw controls to the Bombers' seven.

Ithaca got off to a strong 2-0 lead as Dahl scored just 25 seconds into the action before assisting Armbruster for a 2-0 edge at the 27-minute mark. The teams went goal for goal to close out the first half in Ithaca's favor, 4-3.

Borisenok capitalized on a free position opportunity to open the second stint. The Cardinals responded with one of their own before Rivas too tallied on a free position to implement a 6-4 Ithaca advantage.

The Cardinals rattled off three consecutive over the course of eight minutes to take their first lead of the game, 7-6, at 10:38.

Avery scored the equalizer less than a minute later, but the Cardinals netted a pair and held the Bombers silent down the stretch to secure the Empire 8's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

2012-05-06