Close Calls for Ithaca, Scranton in Round 1 of NCAA D-III Women's Tournament

After a first half in which neither Ithaca nor Oswego could wrestle control from the other, a majority of the third quarter went by with more of the same.

Cassidy Croce’s goal put Oswego ahead one, and the lead stood for just under five minutes before Ithaca finally took control. Lily Cody, Kelly Augeri, Lexi Kellish and Kathryn Scallon scored in a four-goal spurt for the Bombers, allowing for Ithaca to hang on for a 17-13 win on Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA Division III women’s tournament.

The game was hardly over after Scallon put Ithaca up 13-10 with 14:37 to play, though Ithaca didn’t allow Oswego to string together more than one goal at a time from then on. Ithaca matched each Oswego tally with one of its own until it scored twice in the last 2:09 to seal the deal.

Augeri and Kellish each scored four times for Ithaca, which moves on to round two on Sunday to face Middlebury. Cody and Scallon each produced a hat trick.

SCRANTON SNEAKS BY

Scranton earned its first-ever NCAA tournament win at home by defeating MIT 12-10, but it was far from easy.

MIT’s Julianne Flusche cut the deficit to two, then Gwen Flusche scored to make it 11-10 with 9:43 remaining. Remarkably, the Scranton defense allowed just two shots after that time, one of which was blocked. The other went wide.

Erin Reich scored an insurance goal within that time for Scranton to lead 12-10 and advance to round two against Tufts on Sunday.

ROUND 1 SCORES

Haverford def. St. Mary’s 18-10
Plymouth State def. Marymount 20-16
John Carroll def. Grove City 15-5
Babson def. Worcester State 21-9
Stevens def. George Fox 22-3
William Smith def. Husson 25-2
Ithaca def. Oswego 17-13
Trinity def. Meredith 19-5
Scranton def. MIT 12-10
Lake Forest def. Carroll 13-12
Western Connecticut def. Merchant Marine 15-11
Washington and Lee def. Transylvania 26-2
Endicott def. Emmanuel 20-3
Chicago def. Wooster 23-7
Messiah def. Mount Union 20-4

ROUND 2 SCHEDULE

All games Sunday, May 11. All times Eastern.

Middlebury vs. Ithaca, 1 p.m.
Plymouth State vs. York, 1 p.m.
William Smith vs. Amherst, 1 p.m.
Endicott vs. Colby, 1 p.m.
Stevens vs. TCNJ, 1 p.m.
Babson vs. Wesleyan, 1 p.m.
John Carroll vs. St. John Fisher, 1 p.m.
Haverford vs. Salisbury, 1 p.m.
Scranton vs. Tufts, 1 p.m.
Lake Forest vs. Denison, 1 p.m.
Trinity vs. Gettysburg, 1 p.m.
Western Connecticut vs. Rowan, 2 p.m.
Colorado College vs. Pomona-Pitzer, 3 p.m.
Messiah vs. Franklin & Marshall, 3 p.m.
Washington and Lee vs. Sewanee, 4 p.m.