Men's Lacrosse | 3/29/2016 12:06:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. — The nationally-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team brings a five-game winning streak into Wednesday night's non-conference showdown against rival Cortland.

The Bombers (7-1), ranked 20th in the country in the latest Nike/Lacrosse Magazine top 20 poll, host the Red Dragons (3-4) at 7 p.m. under the lights at Higgins Stadium in a big clash for both schools.

Ithaca, fresh off a pair of convincing wins over Oneonta (17-4) and Utica (18-4), has outscored the competition 88-22 during the winning streak, and 131-35 on the year.

The Bombers will bring one of the nation's most potent offenses into the game. IC has scored 15 or more goals in seven of eight games in 2016, and is currently ranked third nationally in scoring offense, averaging 16.38 goals per game.

IC is led by sophomore attacker Jake Cotton, who leads the team in points (41), goals (17), and assists (24) while starting all eight games. He has scored three or more points in every game and has five games of six or more points, including Ithaca's last four contests. Cotton is coming off a career-high six assist effort in the win over Utica in the Empire 8 opener, and he ranks seventh in the country in assists per game (3).

Cotton is one of 10 student-athletes with 10 or more points this year. Sophomore Kaelan Fitzpatrick, who scored a career-best six goals in the win over Utica, is second on the team in points (21), goals (13), and assists (8).
Classmate David Drozjock is tied for second in goals (13) and is third in points (19), while junior Jack Shumway is fourth in points with 17 (11G, 6A).

A balanced Bomber attack also is getting solid contributions from freshman Will Witter (9G, 6A), sophomore Stephen Morrell (13G, 1A), junior John Januszkiewicz (10G, 4A), senior Michael Walker (9G, 5A), and freshmen Josh Della Puca (8G, 5A) and Connor Hulme (7G, 6A).

Defensively, the Bombers boast one of the nation's stingiest units as Ithaca has surrendered only 35 goals in eight games (4.38 goals per game).

Senior Scott Sidnam, the Empire 8 Goalie of the Week, combined for 15 saves in the wins over Oneonta and Utica, including tying his season-high with 11 saves in the win over the Pioneers. Sidnam, the reigning Empire 8 Goalkeeper of the Year, currently leads all of Division III in goals-against average (3.97), and ranks third in saves percentage (.691).

Senior All-American defender Eli Gobrecht leads the team in caused turnovers (27) and is ninth in the country in caused turnovers per game (3.75). Gobrecht is also second on the team in groundballs (32), trailing only junior Grant Osadchey (41).

The Rivalry: Ithaca and Cortland have played in three straight overtime contests, with the Red Dragons coming out on top in each of those matchups. In last year's game, Ithaca held the lead before dropping an 11-10 decision in double overtime. The Bombers enjoyed leads of 3-0, 7-4, and 10-6 with 10 minutes remaining before the Red Dragons rallied for the win.  Sidnam made 11 saves, Januszkiewicz scored two goals with an assist, Shumway added a goal with two assists, and Gobrecht caused three turnovers with four groundballs for IC.

Coverage: The game will be streamed online here, and will be broadcast on radio here.

Scouting the Red Dragons: Cortland is coming off a 16-14 home victory against No. 7 Cabrini College Saturday afternoon. Zach Hopps scored a career-high seven goals and finished with a career-high nine points for Cortland, which raced out to a 7-1 lead but had to hang on for the win. The Red Dragons dominated early and enjoyed leads of 12-3 at halftime, and 15-6 halfway through the third quarter before Cabrini rallied. The Cavaliers scored eight of the next nine goals to pull within 16-14, but time ran out on the comeback attempt. Cortland has faced stiff competition with five games against nationally-ranked foes to start the season. The Red Dragons are just 1-4 vs. top 20 opponents, falling to No. 2 RIT (12-9), No. 4 Amherst (13-12 in OT), No. 11 Nazareth (13-9), and No. 15 Stevenson (13-7) while knocking off Cabrini. … The Red Dragons are led by Hopps (16G, 10A, 26 points), Devin Phelps (13G, 3A), Nate Beresovoy (11G, 5A), Joey Panariello (9G, 4A), and T.J. deLyra (8G, 3A).

National Polls: Ithaca is ranked 20th in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine top 20 poll, and is among schools receiving votes in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) poll. Cortland is among schools receiving votes in both polls. 

Shed the Red: The game, which is part of the Bombers Support Bombers initiative, will also serve as a Tweet #ShedtheRed event, where students are encouraged to bring in a red article of clothing and swap it out for a blue Bombers t-shirt. All donations will go to the Ithaca Rescue Misson.