Rochester, N.Y. -- Senior Dennis Butler (Pleasantville/Pleasantville) made 19 saves and the #11 men's lacrosse team held the nation's second-ranked team scoreless for a span of 42:26 from the first quarter to the fourth quarter en route to a 10-6 win at RIT. The win extended Ithaca's Empire 8 record to 20 straight conference wins and was the seventh straight regular-season victory over the Tigers.

 

The Bombers (11-2, 4-0 Empire 8) trailed 2-0 just 2:40 into the game, but responded by scoring each of the next four goals to take a 4-2 lead midway through the opening quarter. Junior Logan Bobzien (Arapahoe/Centennial, Colo.) got Ithaca on the board at the 11:21 mark of the first quarter and classmate Kevin Bush (Arapahoe [Colo.]/East Point, Fla.) tied the game at 8:48. Junior Matt Nelligan (Pingree School/Rowley, Mass.) gave the Bombers their first lead of the game 18 seconds later off a faceoff win by sophomore Matt Runhke (Brien McMahon/Norwalk, Conn.).

 

Junior Craig Lepiane (West Irondequoit/Rochester) scored his first goal of the game with 7:21 to go in the first quarter, but RIT (10-1, 3-1 Empire 8) answered with the final two goals of the period to tie the game at 4-all. Ithaca went on a 6-0 run over the next two quarters beginning with Nelligan’s second goal of the game at 8:02 of the second quarter to give Ithaca the lead for good at 5-4. Ruhnke tallied his second goal of the season, with an assist from Nelligan, with 28 seconds left in the second frame to give Ithaca a 6-4 halftime lead.

 

Lepiane opened the second half scoring at 8:59 of the third quarter with his second goal of the game, 25th of the season, and scored his third and goal of the game with 3:24 remaining in the quarter. Sophomore Mike Cintineo (Honeoye Falls-Lime/Honeoye Falls) added a goal at 4:59 of the third quarter and Bobzien closed the scoring for Ithaca 2:47 into the fourth quarter to give the Bombers a 10-4 lead.

 

RIT ended it scoreless drought with 5:45 left in the game and closed the scoring 1:36 later for the 10-6 final. The loss by the Tigers, who were ranked first in the initial NCAA North Region rankings, leaves #1 Salisbury, #5 Western New England and  #24 Keene State as the last undefeated teams in Division III.

 

Ithaca returns to action Saturday when the Bombers host #26 Hartwick in an Empire 8 contest at 1 p.m. at Upper Terrace Field.