ITHACA, N.Y. (April 29, 2017)  – Sophomore Mackenzie Metzler matched her career high with three goals but the Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team fell at No. 12 Ithaca College Saturday in an Empire 8 Conference matchup.

Freshman Kyra Bednarski added two goals and two assists for Stevens, who rallied from a 5-2 first-half deficit, but saw its four-game winning streak snapped. The Ducks end the regular season with a 12-4 record and 7-1 in conference play.

Morgan Racicot had four goals to lead the Bombers, who improved to 13-3 on the year and concluded conference play with a perfect 8-0 record. By virtue of the victory, Ithaca secured the number one seed in the Empire 8 Conference tournament and will host the semifinals and finals this weekend. Stevens is the number two seed and will face Nazareth in one semifinal, while the Bombers will take on St. John Fisher in the other.

"We played hard for 60 minutes, but we just need to play a little smarter," head coach Celine Cunningham said. "Giving up those early goals was not an ideal way to begin the game, but I'm proud of our team's ability to refocus and tie the game. As tough as that loss is, I think we learned a lot today, which will definitely help us as we prepare for the Empire 8 tournament."

Senior Kathleen Kalbian recorded two goals for the Ducks and junior Julianna Ricci and senior Laura Roberts each had a goal to round out the Stevens scoring.

Defensively, junior Cami Santor earned five draw controls and picked up three ground balls. Kalbian's four ground balls led all players, but Ithaca held an overall 19-15 edge. Kalbian and sophomore Regan Littell each caused two turnovers. The Ducks were 2-for-3 on free position shots, while Ithaca was 5-for-7.

Ithaca held a 30-21 shot advantage, but Stevens held a 17-16 advantage in shots on goal. Junior Stephanie Schnelzer suffered the loss for Stevens and Kimberly Presuto made eight saves to earn the win for Ithaca.

After calculated attacks that defined the game's opening minutes, Racicot opened the scoring with her 22nd of the season. Bednarski answered just 18 seconds later to the score at 1. Ithaca would open a two-goal lead when Morgan Caldwell and Ally Runyon beat Schnelzer. Bednarski would again answer the Ithaca push with her 47th of the year to pull the Ducks within one.

Ithaca would again strike for consecutive goals to push its lead to 5-2 at halftime. Gabby Berne would score 57 seconds into the second half to open a 6-2 lead.

Metzler's first of the game began a stretch of four goals in four minutes that tied the game at six. 

After Metzler's second goal of the day tied the score, Racicot and Runyon struck for goals 27 seconds apart to again put Ithaca up by two. Runyon's three-goal day brought her season total to 63.

Roberts and Metzler would connect for back-to-back goals to trim the deficit to two, but Ithaca scored twice over the four minutes to end any chance of a Stevens comeback.

Up next: The Ducks will take on Nazareth College on Saturday in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Conference Championship. Stevens defeated the Golden Flyers, 11-8, on April 8.

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