By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor
In May, Ally Stanton made the decision to stay at Ithaca College and pursue a graduate degree in occupational therapy. Since she was going to be staying at the school for a further two years, the former King Philip standout also decided to take advantage of her extra year of eligibility and play one more season with the Bombers.
That decision paid off for Stanton and for the team.
Last week, the Bombers defeated RPI, with help from Stanton’s seventh goal of the season, to win the Liberty League regular season title for the first time and claim the top seed and homefield advantage for the conference tournament. Ithaca beat Skidmore on Friday and, on Sunday afternoon, the Bombers defeated nationally-ranked William Smith in a dramatic penalty shootout to clinch its second Liberty League title in the past three years.
“It’s been really special to be a part of this season and our team chemistry is just amazing on and off the field so that’s contributed to a lot of that success,” Stanton said in a phone call the night before the conference semifinal against Skidmore. “Personally, I’ve just been trying to find any way to contribute both on and off the field as well, so I’ve been proud about how that’s been going so far.”
“I still love all the girls on the team. It’s harder balancing it with grad school this fall but I’m really happy that I did it. I love to be busy, so it’s nice.”
Stanton tweaked her ankle in the buildup to the conference tournament, so she wasn’t able to take part in the semifinal, but she was out there for the final and contributed four shots and a couple of dangerous crosses in a match that stayed scoreless through regulation and overtime.
Even though she didn’t know how much she would be able to play during the conference tournament, Stanton was ready to be a leader on the bench and find ways to keep her teammates focused and ready for the challenges of the tournament.
“This week I haven’t been able to practice as much as I would’ve liked,” she explained, “but just by staying involved in every drill and just talking to girls in my position and being there through the warmup helping in any way that I can and just being super loud and supportive on the sideline and halftime talking to the team about what I’ve been seeing.”
Making history with the regular season title was an experience to remember (Stanton remarked, “That was awesome. We were so excited. We have a great media team at our school, so after everyone was posing for pictures.”) but, after thinking her collegiate career had ended before deciding to attend grad school, Stanton has been enjoying every moment with her team this fall.
“I have such an appreciation for the sport more so than I ever did,” she said. “This whole season, I know now what it’s like to be done with soccer so it’s just given me a new perspective to really leave it all out there. I think I’ve put less pressure on myself and I’m just having fun and playing as hard as I can.”
Stanton started her college career at Wesleyan. During her first season (2021), she scored five goals and dished out a pair of assists for a team that went 18-2-2 and reached the DIII Final Four.
After transferring to Ithaca, Stanton continued to excel on the pitch. She has 18 goals and five assists in her three seasons with the Bombers. Incredibly, 11 of her 18 goals (including five of the seven she scored this season) have been game-winners.
“I think all of our goals are just good team goals and I’m just somehow in the right spot a lot of the time,” she replied with a laugh when asked how she always seems to pop up at the right time to score important goals. “The best part is just celebrating with your team after.”
Now in her fifth season, Stanton feels more comfortable on the pitch and has embraced being a veteran leader on the team.
“I love the relationships that I have with my younger teammates,” she said. “Just controlling what you can control and putting in the work at practice, offseason is super important, and making sure you’re putting in that work to earn that spot.”
“Also, I think I can help the underclassmen with balancing school on top of soccer. That’s really helpful. You get to know about classes and professors, lend someone a textbook, just be a mentor for them in that aspect as well.”
There are former Hockomock rivals among the younger teammates. Former Canton standout Allie McCabe is a starter in Ithaca’s defense, which has been the best in the Liberty League this season having allowed only seven goals in 19 matches. Former Stoughton goalie Katrina Varnum is in her first year with the Bombers.
Looking forward to the weekend, Stanton reflected on what it would mean to close out her final season by winning another title for Ithaca and getting back to the NCAA Tournament.
“It would mean so much to me,” she said. “That’s been the goal since we started preseason and I think it’s just great that we know we have the talent to do it and it’s now just about executing in these next couple games.”
“It would be the perfect way to wrap it all up.”
Ithaca will wait for the DIII pairing to be announced later this week to see who the Bombers will face in the first round of the tournament.
