ITHACA, N.Y. —Junior
John Januszkiewicz scored six points on two goals with four assists, while junior
Jack Shumway and sophomore
Jake Cotton added five points each as the nationally-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team defeated Stevens Institute of Technology 17-7 Saturday at Higgins Stadium.
In a matchup of two nationally-ranked squads, Cotton scored four goals with an assist, Shumway had three goals with two assists, and sophomore
Stephen Morrell added three goals with an assist as No. 20 Ithaca (9-1, 2-0 Empire 8) won its seventh straight game.
Senior All-American defender
Eli Gobrecht collected nine groundballs while matching his season-high with six caused turnovers as the Bombers forced the No. 16 Ducks (8-3, 1-1) into 28 turnovers.
Junior
Grant Osadchey won 75 percent of his faceoffs (8 of 12) while collecting five groundballs, classmate
Cody Swing caused four turnovers, and sophomore
Winston Wenham caused three turnovers as Ithaca's stifling defense clamped down and held Stevens to seven goals below its season-long scoring average.
Morrell collected five groundballs, and Cotton picked up four groundballs as the Bombers enjoyed a 44-27 advantage in groundballs. Ithaca also outshot Stevens 54-21 in eclipsing 15 or more goals for the ninth time in 10 games.
Ithaca, which improved to 5-0 at home, entered Saturday's game ranked third in the nation in scoring offense (16.56 goals per game).
Senior
Scott Sidnam, a two-time Empire 8 Goalie of the Year, made 11 saves to consistently turn away the Ducks as Ithaca improved to 8-6 all-time vs. Stevens.
Sophomore
Kaelan Fitzpatrick staked IC to a 1-0 lead on an unassisted tally 1:23 into the contest. Stevens tied the game three minutes in before closed the opening stanza on a 6-1 run.
Six different student-athletes scored during the run: Cotton, Morrell, Shumway, Januszkiewicz, freshman
Brendan King, and senior
Michael Walker, as Ithaca took a 7-2 lead into the second.
Shumway fed Morrell for an even-strength goal 1:01 into the second, but Stevens score two minutes later to pull within 8-3. Cotton pushed the lead to 9-3 on a man-up goal with 9:43 remaining in the opening half, then extended the lead to 10-3 off a feed from Fitzpatrick with 7:55 to play.
Following a goal from Stevens' John Boutureira, Ithaca scored twice in the final 25 seconds to seize a 12-4 lead heading to halftime.
Della Puca scored an unassisted goal, then IC won the ensuing faceoff. With the clock winding down, Januszkiewicz found senior
Andrew Dietz for his first goal of the year with 0.2 seconds remaining and an eight-goal Bomber lead.
Ithaca maintained control in the second half. Stevens got as close as 14-7 on Andrew Scrutchfield's goal with 8:45 remaining, but Cotton, Morrell, and Januszkiewicz each scored during a closing 3-0 run to clinch the win for the Bombers.
Ithaca will return to action at 12 p.m. Saturday hosting Empire 8 conference foe Nazareth at 12 p.m. at Higgins Stadium. The game will serve as Senior Day for Ithaca's four seniors: Dietz, Gobrecht, Sidnam, and Walker.
