CORTLAND, N.Y. – Sophomore Anna Gray (Bethlehem/Delmar) scored two-first half goals as the nationally 21st-ranked Ithaca women's soccer team built a 3-0 lead at intermission and went on to defeat Cortland, 4-1, Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at the Jets Field on the SUNY Cortland campus.

Sophomore Kelly Knight (Rochester/Greece Olympia) tallied a second-half goal for the Red Dragons (3-3-1) with freshman Amanda Margolis (Oceanside) collecting an assist. Graduate student Pam Monnier (East Northport/Northport) made four saves to tie Ali Gray for the school record with 263 career saves.

Junior Rachel Palladino (Lansing) and sophomore Amanda Callanan (Ballston Spa) added goals for the Bombers (5-0-1), while sophomore Ellyn Grant-Keane (Lansing) recorded an assist. Junior goalie Becca Salant (Holliston, MA) registered nine saves.

Palladino gave Ithaca a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute with her team-high fifth goal of the season when she put a loose ball in front inside the right post. Gray made it a 2-0 game in the 39th minute, blasting a 28-yard direct kick into the upper left corner of the goal. In the 39th minute, Gray struck again to put the Bombers up 3-0. Her 25-yard free kick deflected off a Cortland defender and past Monnier.

Cortland pressured early in the second half as senior Jackie De Luise (Schenectady/Guilderland) hit the left post in the 48th minute and Salant made a save on a De Luise shot moments later. The pressure eventually paid off in the 52nd minute. Margolis kept the ball alive after a collision with Salant in front. The ball bounced back in the box where Knight struck a 15-yard shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and went over the goal line.

The Red Dragons continued to carry play throughout much of the second half, out shooting the Bombers, 14-8, over the final 45 minutes, but couldn't get another shot past Salant. Callanan then sealed the win in the 88th minute with a 30-yard shot on a loose ball that knuckled inside the right post.  

Ithaca 4, Cortland 1

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Ithaca: Anna Gray 2-0, Rachel Palladino 1-0, Amanda Callanan 1-0, Ellyn Grant-Keane 0-1
Cortland: Kelly Knight 1-0, Amanda Margolis 0-1

Halftime: Ithaca 3, Cortland 0
Shots: Cortland 21, Ithaca 17
Corner Kicks: Ithaca 4, Cortland 1
Fouls: Cortland 8, Ithaca 6
Saves: Becca Salant (Ithaca) 9 (1 GA in 90:00); Pam Monnier (Cortland) 4 (4 GA in 90:00)

Record after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 3-3-1, Ithaca (Bombers) 5-0-1 (ranked 21st nationally in Div. III)