ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca men's soccer team opened its season with a 1-1 tie against visiting Geneseo Wednesday at Carp Wood Field. Ithaca sophomore midfielder Ben Lloyd (Amesbury/Amesbury, Mass.) curled in a direct kick in the 61st minute to equalize the score in the second half.

Ithaca fell behind in the first half, but rallied to tie the score. After Geneseo was whistled for a foul just outside the right edge of the penalty area, Lloyd curled a shot over three Geneseo defenders and beyond the reach of the Knights' goalkeeper. It was the first goal of Lloyd's career, who appeared in six games as a freshman.

It was the second consecutive year that these opponents opened the season with a tie, after playing in a 0-0 deadlock to start the 2009 campaign.

Senior goalkeeper Justin Parlapiano (Stafford/Stafford Springs, Conn.) made seven saves in the game, and dealt with a couple of Geneseo scoring chances in the penalty area after the score was tied. The Bombers played the final 3:30 of the contest with a one-player advantage. A Geneseo player was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the game.

Ithaca will be back in action Saturday afternoon at the Doug May Classic, hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Bombers face the host RIT Tigers in the first semifinal, Saturday at 2 p.m. Sunday's Ithaca opponent will either be Nazareth or Brockport.

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