ITHACA, N.Y. – The 12th-ranked men’s lacrosse team lost 11-8 to sixth-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament final. RIT earns the Empire 8’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. The Bombers await the announcement of the NCAA playoff field Sunday, May 7 when at-large selections will be made to the 20-team championship field.
Sophomore
Matt Nelligan (Pingree School/Rowley, Mass.) scored three goals to lead the Ithaca offense. Sophomore
Logan Bobzien (Arapahoe/Littleton, Colo.) tallied two goals and added two assists to record a team-high four points. Seniors
Brandon Geluso (Haborfields/Greenlawn),
Doug Lumb (Auburn/Auburn) and
Matt Pugliese (Williamsville East/Williamsville) each registered one goal.
Junior
Dennis Butler (Pleasantville/Pleasantville) made 17 saves.
RIT (14-2) began the game by scoring the first four goals of the contest. The Bombers (11-4) would respond by scoring the next four goals, knotting the game at four. The Tigers scored one final goal in the second quarter to end the first half with a 5-4 advantage. Ithaca would score the first goal of the second half to tie the game at five. RIT scored four of the next five goals to take a 9-6 lead. Two Ithaca goals in the final minute of the second quarter would trim the RIT lead to one. The Tigers scored two goals in the fourth quarter and maintained possession over the final eight minutes to seal the victory.
Game ProgramBox Score
