ITHACA, N.Y. – The 18th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team (5-1) suffered its first loss of the season, 9-3, to visiting third-ranked Cortland (6-0) on Friday night at Higgins Stadium.

The Bombers opened all scoring with one minute lingering in the first period, but Cortland dominated the second and third periods en route to victory. Trailing 9-1 with 13:46 remaining in the game, Ithaca scored the contest's last two goals for a 9-3 final.

The Red Dragons outshot Ithaca, 46-24, won 33 ground balls to the Bombers' 22 and held a 13-3 advantage in faceoffs.

Senior goalie Brendan Green recorded his sixth consecutive double-digit save performance in cage. He finished with a game-high 16 stops for the Blue & Gold and added a team-best four ground balls.

Senior Tom Mongelli, junior Connor Lowe and sophomore Pat Slawta each tallied once. Sophomore Andrew Kristy joined Green in recording a team-best four ground balls, while Mongelli added three.

Freshman Matt Greenblatt was 3-for-5 in faceoffs and senior Chris Duncan had a Bomber-best two forced turnovers.

A scoreless 13:58 ticked off the clock as action opened in back-and-forth fashion before Mongelli struck on a Ryan Burns assist for a 1-0 Ithaca lead at the end of the first. It was just the third time this season that Cortland has been held scoreless in a period.

The Red Dragons netted three straight in the second to end the half with a 3-1 advantage. They continued to dominate, powering to a 9-1 gap 1:14 into the final frame. The Bombers snapped their scoring drought with an unassisted Lowe goal at 6:19 before a man-up Slawta score on a Jacob Long assist finalized all scoring at the 4:44 mark of the fourth.

The Bombers next host Oswego on Sunday, March 25 at noon.

Box Score