Ithaca College women’s lacrosse, softball claim conference crowns

As the college sports season winds down, there’s been plenty to celebrate on South Hill all year long. In the fall, three Ithaca College teams—field hockey, volleyball, and women’s soccer captured Liberty League championships. In the winter, three more teams—men’s basketball, women’s swimming and diving, and women’s indoor track and field—also claimed conference titles while Kailee Payne won two more diving national championships. This spring, it’s been more of the same success to close out the school year.

Women’s lacrosse captured its second straight Liberty League title after taking down Union College on May 4 at a foggy Higgins Stadium. The Bombers managed to repeat as champions in a bit of a different way from last year. In 2024, the Bombers steamrolled their way to the title, going undefeated against conference opponents. This year, they lost six games during the regular season and three against Liberty League teams. Kaitlyn Russell was instrumental in both triumphs as a defender, and she agreed that this year’s title was more of an uphill battle.

“This year, coming off of a winning season last year was different coming in, and it was definitely more of a fight,” Russell said. “But I think we really rose to that challenge and decided halfway through the season that we were going to battle, we were ready to go, and we were going to pick up the intensity and play fast.”

The Bombers had a different look from last season, losing a trio of First Team All-Liberty League selections—attacker Maizy Veitch and midfielders Sydney Phillips and Caroline Wise—as well as starting goalie Lexi Held. But experienced players like Russell along with other players stepping up combined to keep up its postseason glory. That experience really came into play in the Liberty League tournament. In both the semifinal against RIT and the championship against Union, the Bombers came out on top by just one goal.

“I think it’s perseverance and composure,” Russell said. “Composure has been a really big piece for us. In those big games and things get really stressful, we got to be composed with the ball and off of the ball and making sure that we’re communicating with each other and trying not to get fouls in those last couple of seconds and just making sure we’re composed and our communication is going to be where we need it to be. I think that was the biggest piece in those last two games for us.”

That led the Bombers back into the NCAA Tournament. Things started off strong in the first round with a 17-13 win over Oswego. But they had the great misfortune of playing at the three-time defending national champions Middlebury College in the second round, where their fantastic season came to an end.

Joining women’s lacrosse with a Liberty League crown is softball. The Bombers won their first conference title since 2019 after going 3-0 in tourney play. After holding on to beat Skidmore 4-3 in the opening round, they then defeated hosts Rochester 3-1 to punch its ticket to the championship. Needing just one win over RPI, the Bombers took care of business with an 8-0 shutout of the Engineers.

One of the main catalysts for the Bombers’ triumph was Cate Murray. The junior is in her first season on South Hill after transferring from Division I softball at Colgate. Murray has made an instant impact, leading the Bombers with a .376 batting average, a .449 on-base percentage, and a .541 slugging percentage. Murray attributed her stellar hitting to her mentality at the plate.

“It’s just trusting the process, trusting my bat, trusting my hands, and also just having fun up there,” Murray said. “I love to get on base. I always say I’d rather just be able to base run, because I think that’s the most fun. But it’s just having each other’s back. Sela Scheinman’s leading off so if Sheila gets on, I’m up. My goal is to move her over as much as I can and do what I can to help the team. I think for me, it’s just being able to get up there and have my teammates back, no matter what that looks like or how I can do it.”

The Bombers’ outstanding hitting is complemented by the dominant pitching duo of Anna Cornell and Mady Rowell. The former is the all-time strikeouts leader in program history and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“Anna’s a competitor,” Murray said. “She gets up on that man, and it’s you versus her. She wants to win that more than anything. And her and Mady do a really good job at getting up in these really tough positions and it’s game faces. You can’t tell if they’re nervous, if they’re scared. There’s nothing. They’re up there to win, and they’re up there to compete. To play for them and want to win for them, it’s awesome.”

The Bombers will host regional play in the NCAA Tournament, which begins on May 15. The other teams in their region are Springfield, UMass Boston, and Texas Lutheran.