ALFRED, N.Y. —The nationally-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team extended its school-record winning streak to 12 games and moved one step closer to winning the Empire 8 regular-season championship thanks to Saturday's 22-11 win over Alfred University at Yunevich Stadium at Merrill Field.
Junior
John Januszkiewicz scored a career-high seven goals and matched his career-high with eight points as the No. 8 Bombers (14-1, 6-0 Empire 8) remained perfect in Empire 8 action. With two conference clashes remaining, IC is in sole possession of first place in the conference and owns the tiebreaker over No. 2 Nazareth (11-4, 6-1) and No. 3 Stevens (12-3, 5-1).
Junior
Jack Shumway tacked on five goals, and senior
Michael Walker tallied five points (three goals, two assists) as Ithaca scored its most goals in a game this year.
Freshman
Josh Della Puca (one goal, three assists) and sophomore
Kaelan Fitzpatrick (three goals, one assist) each recorded four points against the Saxons (9-4, 3-3).
A balanced Ithaca squad had nine players record at least one point while logging 13 assists on 22 goals as the Bombers eclipsed 15 goals in a game for the 14th time in 15 games.
Sophomore
Jake Cotton added one goal with two assists, while senior All-American
Eli Gobrecht scored twice and collected five groundballs in the win.
Senior
Scott Sidnam made 10 saves in running his record to 14-1. Sophomore
Steven Landspurg won 76.5 percent of his faceoffs (13 of 17) and junior
Grant Osadchey won 60 percent of his faceoffs (12 of 20) as the Bombers combined to win 67.6 percent of their faceoffs (25 of 37).
Landspurg collected a game-high nine groundballs while Osadchey added seven as Ithaca enjoyed a 43-34 advantage in groundballs.
Sidnam, Shumway and junior
Cody Swing each collected four groundballs apiece vs. the Saxons.
The Saxons came out and held the Bombers scoreless over the first 12:23 while scoring a pair of early goals to take a 2-0 lead. IC got on the scoreboard when Cotton found Walker with 2:37 remaining in the first, and Januszkiewicz knotted the score at two on his tally with 37 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
Alfred retook the lead 1:25 into the second before the Bombers responded with a 7-1 run to close out the first half. Januszkiewicz scored three goals, Shumway scored twice, and Walker and freshman
Conner Crosson each added a goal as IC took a 9-4 lead into halftime.
Fitzpatrick's first goal just 31 seconds into the third pushed the lead to 10-4, but the Saxons scored two of the next three goals and trailed 11-6 with 8:15 remaining in the third. Ithaca once again closed out the quarter strong, using a 4-1 spurt to take a 15-7 lead into the final quarter.
Sophomore
Greg Drillock kick-started the run on a goal off a feed from Della Puca with 5:43 remaining. Fitzpatrick tacked on another goal 36 seconds later for a 13-6 lead. Alfred got a goal back late in the quarter, but Januszkiewicz scored an unassisted goal and then set up Shumway's goal with three seconds remaining to cap the scoring run.
The Saxons scored the first two goals of the fourth to close within 15-9, but the Bombers answered with four straight goals in a span of 4:41 to seize control for good. Shumway scored twice while Della Puca and Januszkiewicz added goals during the run.
Ithaca travels to Empire 8 rival Elmira College for a 4 p.m. contest Wednesday before closing out the regular season at Hartwick College for a 12 p.m. clash on April 30.
