Ithaca’s Lila Travers excels for Swarthmore women’s soccer

The list of Ithaca High School student-athletes who have gone on to play in college is seemingly endless. This fall, one alum is making a name for herself in the Division III women’s soccer landscape.

Lila Travers is in her sophomore year at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. After playing just one game for the Garnet in 2022, she has emerged as their first-choice goalkeeper during the second half of the regular season. Swarthmore is 5-1-2 when Travers has appeared in goal and finished the regular season tied for first place in the Centennial Conference. Travers attributed their strong team chemistry as to why they’ve had such a successful campaign so far.

“It’s been a fun year,” Travers said. “I just love this team. It’s a very close team, and I think that that says a lot about our success. We worked a lot at the beginning of the year to bond a lot so we can work together well on the field. I think that having fun, traveling as a team and playing as a team is a big part of our success.”

Travers is part of an incredibly talented and deep goalkeeping room. She competes for playing time with senior Nora Greer—who has made just as many starts as Travers—while freshman Sophie Aird and fellow sophomore Dahlia Bedward also started between the sticks this season. All this competition has only made Travers a better player.

“I’ve always learned a lot from the players around me, and I think that having such a competitive goalie group makes it just really fun being able to compete with each other in practice,” Travers said. “We play a lot of fun, little games that we very much enjoy. Focusing on what I can learn from everybody else is really important in getting better and competing.”

Travers caught the attention of the conference after her sensational performance against nationally-ranked Johns Hopkins. She made a career-high 11 saves against the Blue Jays to secure a 1-1 draw, helping her be named as the Centennial Conference Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week.

“They came out strong in the first half, and I think that really made me ready for the second [half],” Travers said. “They were a tough team and it was a fun competition. Having all the girls out there with me helped me stay focused and energized throughout.”

When Travers talks about her time with the Garnet, it is clear how much she enjoys being part of such a tight-knit group. After all, the players themselves are the main reason why she decided to attend Swarthmore.

“I saw a lot of people in this program who inspired me a lot and their interests in everything, including soccer and their commitment to soccer, but also their commitment to academics and many various other interests,” Travers said. “I really liked the idea of coming to a diverse soccer program that wanted to commit to being a team and being a family. When I came on my visit, I just loved it.”

Speaking of family, Travers’ older brother Ravi is also playing Division III soccer, plying his trade at Hamilton College in his fifth year with the Continentals. Both their love for the game started from a young age.

“[Soccer] has always been a big part of my family,” Travers said. “My dad loves soccer and so do we. We watched it growing up. We played together. I feel like I’ve always looked up to him and his love for soccer, and so I realized I loved it just as much.”

Travers was just as phenomenal in goal for the Little Red. She earned Class AA Second Team All-State honors her junior year and was an all-conference selection three times. Travers has already carried over valuable things she learned from her time at Ithaca High to Swarthmore.

“I think a big part of it is just coming in to play every day,” Travers said. “You play soccer for a reason. You want to have fun. You want to work hard. You want to get better. I think that same type of mentality is used in all types of sports, and it’s really important to stick with it and remember why to play every day.”

Because Swarthmore finished level on points with Johns Hopkins and all the tie-breaking criteria couldn’t separate the two, a coin flip determined that the top seed (and home-field advantage) in the Centennial Conference Tournament belonged to the Garnet. As they prepare for their semifinal matchup on November 3, Travers hopes to help deliver the program’s conference title since 2018.

“I think we’ve got to want it—which we do—and we’ve got to play hard,” Travers said. “We’ve got to go out in every game and want to win, bring the intensity, and bring what we know we have.”