Men's Lacrosse | 2/27/2016 4:25:00 PM

Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. —The nationally-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team found itself trailing Marywood (Pa.) University 2-1 10 minutes into Saturday's season opener.

Then the offense showed why Ithaca is among the top 20 squads in the country. The Bombers rattled off eight straight goals during a span of 11:13 bridging the first and second quarters as Ithaca (1-0) defeated Marywood 16-4.

Sparking the run was junior attack John Januszkiewicz, a first-team All-Empire 8 attack in 2015. Januszkiewicz scored six second-quarter goals in a span of 12:06, equaling his career-high for goals in a game.

Januszkiewicz finished with a career-high seven goals, junior Jack Shumway added three goals and an assist, sophomore Jake Cotton recorded one goal with two assists, and freshman Josh Della Puca added two goals as the Bombers won their sixth straight season opener. Ithaca is ranked 16th in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coaches' preseason poll, and is 19th in the LaxMagazine.com preseason poll. 

Also scoring a goal for Ithaca was sophomore Stephen Morrell, sophomore Kaelan Fitzpatrick, and freshman Connor Hulme. 

Senior All-American defender Eli Gobrecht added four groundballs and caused three turnovers in the win.

Januszkiewicz collected a team-best five groundballs, while freshman Owen Smith scooped up four groundballs. Senior Michael Walker added three groundballs, as did sophomore Greg Drillock and freshman John Skinner. 

Ithaca won 18 of 24 faceoffs (75 percent), led by sophomore Steven Landspurg, who won all 11 of his faceoffs, and Skinner, who won all four of his faceoffs.

Senior Scott Sidnam, the 2015 Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year, made three saves while junior Jack Deragon added a save for Ithaca.

Della Puca scored the first goal of the season just 1:24 into the contest, but Marywood (0-2) scored the next two goals and led 2-1 until Morrell tied the game with 34 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.

That goal started an 8-0 run by the Bombers. Cotton fed Januszkiewicz for a man-up goal 1:28 into the second, and sophomore David Drozjock found Shumway for a 4-2 lead 48 seconds later.

Shumway added a goal before Januszkiewicz scored five more goals in the quarter as the Bombers took a 10-3 lead into halftime.

Ithaca blanked Marywood in the third quarter and allowed only one goal in the fourth to earn the win.

The Bombers return home to host Lycoming (Pa.) College at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Higgins Stadium in the 2016 home opener.

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