Oneonta, N.Y. – The 24th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team (10-4, 5-0 Empire 8) claimed a 5-4 victory at Hartwick (6-7, 1-4 Empire 8) on Saturday afternoon.
In a game that was knotted on three occasions, Ithaca scored three of the game's final five goals to win its third straight and its fifth out of the last six.
Senior
Tom Mongelli and freshman
James Manilla each scored a pair of goals for the Bombers, while sophomore
Pat Slawta dished out two assists.
Junior Marc Roberts collected a career-high six ground balls and freshman
Matt Greenblatt won five of the six faceoffs he attempted.
Senior goalie
Brendan Green made eight stops in cage for the win.
Hartwick outshot Ithaca, 27-23, and held a slight 26-25 edge in ground balls. Ithaca won seven faceoffs to the Hawks' six.
The Hawks netted the game's first before Ithaca tallied back-to-back scores.
Manilla scored a man-up goal on an assist from sophomore Jacob Long before senior
Devin Weinshank recorded on a
Slawta assist at 2:30.
Ithaca went scoreless in the second as Hartwick knotted action, 2-2, at 8:17. The stalemate remained at the half.
Mongelli reinstated Ithaca's advantage capitalizing on a
Jay Lucas assist for a 3-2 edge at 8:26 of the third.
Hartwick deadlock action early in the fourth before
Mongelli struck on a
Slawta feed at 3:35 for a one-goal Bomber gap.
Manilla added to it as Ithaca secured its largest lead of the game, 5-3, at 1:36. The Hawks found the back of the net with just 34 ticks lingering on the clock to pull within one, but a
Green save with five seconds left in regulation alleviated the game from going to overtime.
The Bombers return to action on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. game at Elmira.
Box Score