ITHACA, NY – The Alfred University women's lacrosse team was outmatched on Saturday as it opened Empire 8 play with a 26-2 loss on the road to #13 nationally-ranked Ithaca College.
 
Both of the Saxon (1-3, 0-1 Empire 8) came in the first half. The first on the board was senior Tracy Johnston (Akron, NY/Akron). She scored at the 17:50 mark off an assist from junior Taylor Miller (Medina, NY/Medina). Junior defender Emily MacWilliams (Geneva, NY/Waterloo) put the Saxons' final score in at 13:50.
 
The Bombers held a distinct advantage on the starts as they brought in 25 draw controls compared to Alfred's five.
 
Defensively, MacWilliams led Alfred University with three caused turnovers while junior Miranda Gilbert (Watertown, NY/Watertown) had two as well as four of the Saxons' draw controls. Gilbert was the only Saxon to take more than one shot on the day as she put forth six.
 
Both senior Leah Ellithorpe (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) and junior goalie Shannon Gray (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) had three ground balls on the day. The Saxons totaled 11 as the Bombers had 18. The three pickups were a game-high.
 
Ithaca was led by the six points from Morgan Racicot (four assists and two goals), the five from Ally Runyon (four goals and one assist) and the four points from Morgan Cadwell (four goals).
 
In goal, Gray was credited with the loss as she faced a total of 46 shots with 30 on goal and made four saves. Kimberly Presuto of Ithaca earned the win, having played all 30 minutes of the first half and made two saves. Emily Ross came in at the start of the second half and made three stops.
 
The Saxons will next return home to face the Wildcats of SUNY Poly on Sunday, March 26 at 1pm. The game is the makeup from postponement from Saturday, March 18.