Box Score ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A fourth-quarter rally came up just short for the Ithaca College men's lacrosse team as Nazareth defeated Ithaca 9-8 in the Empire 8 championship game Saturday, May 2 at Nazareth College. Ithaca trailed by four goals in the fourth quarter, but scored three times in the final five minutes to pull within one. Ithaca forced a Nazareth turnover in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter, and had a shot attempt that was blocked at the buzzer.
 
Nazareth entered the game ranked 15th by the USILA Division III Coaches Poll and improved to 15-4. Ithaca was ranked 17th in the national poll and is 13-5. With the conference title, Nazareth earns automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament. Ithaca is eligible for consideration for an at-large selection to the national tournament. The NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse championship field will be announced Sunday night at NCAA.com.
 
In Saturday's game, the teams combined for nine goals in the first three quarters, then totaled eight in the fourth quarter.
 
Ithaca led 2-1 after the opening 15 minutes on goals from John Januszkiewicz and Jack Shumway. Nazareth scored the only two goals of the second quarter and led 3-2 at halftime. Ithaca tied the score at 3-3 on the second goal of the game from Januszkiewicz, but Nazareth closed the third quarter by scoring three goals in a row and held a 7-4 advantage.
 
In the fourth quarter, Steve Danylyshyn and Michael Walker scored as the Bombers kept the Golden Flyers within reach. Luke Wooters scored for Nazareth with 5:16 left to give his team a 9-5 lead, but Ithaca rallied in the closing minutes. Jake Cotton scored a man-up goal for the Bombers with 4:14 left. Shumway scored with 3:13 left and Januszkiewicz completed his hat trick with 1:23 remaining to bring Ithaca within one. Nazareth won the ensuing faceoff and was able to possess the ball for the majority of the remaining time, until Ithaca's late takeaway and last-second shot attempt.
 
Shumway had two goals and two assists, and Januszkiewicz had three goals to lead Ithaca's offense. Goalkeeper Scott Sidnam made 12 saves. Eli Gobrecht had seven ground balls. Jimmy Ryan and Greg Drillock each caused two Nazareth turnovers.
 
Ithaca outshot Nazareth 38-30, but Nazareth held a 13-7 advantage in faceoffs. Each team had 16 turnovers. Ithaca was 2-for-2 on extra-man opportunities and Nazareth was 0-for-1 in that category.
 
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