ONEONTA, N.Y. —The nationally-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team finished the regular season undefeated in Empire 8 action after a 16-3 win against Hartwick College Saturday afternoon at Wright Stadium in Oneonta, N.Y.
Juniors
John Januszkiewicz and
Jack Shumway scored three goals each, as did freshman
Josh Della Puca as No. 2 Ithaca (16-1, 8-0 Empire 8) extended its school-record winning streak to 14 games.
Sophomores
Jake Cotton and
Stephen Morrell each added two goals with one assist, and senior
Michael Walker scored one goal and handed out two assists for the Bombers, who clinched the Empire 8 regular-season championship earlier in the week.
Ithaca will host the Empire 8 postseason tournament, starting with a semifinal against St. John Fisher College at 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon at Higgins Stadium.
If the Bombers win, they will host the conference championship Saturday.
The winner of the Empire 8 postseason tournament earns an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III tournament. Ithaca last won the conference championship in 2014, winning a first-round NCAA game before falling in the second round.
Against the Hawks (4-10, 2-6), junior
Grant Osadchey won 75 percent of his faceoffs (12 of 16) as Ithaca won 70 percent of faceoffs (16 of 23) on the day.
Osadchey scooped up a game-high eight groundballs, senior
Andrew Dietz and sophomore
Winston Wenham collected four groundballs apiece, and senior
Eli Gobrecht and sophomore
Keith Morrissey added three groundballs apiece for IC, which enjoyed a 36-21 edge in groundballs.
The Bombers, who lead the nation in scoring offense (17.53 goals per game) have scored 15 or more goals in 16 of 17 games.
Senior
Scott Sidnam, the reigning United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III North Defensive Player of the Week and Empire 8 Goalie of the Week, made nine saves and allowed two goals in 45 minutes of action to improve to 16-1.
Neither school scored until Della Puca's unassisted goal with 6:40 remaining in the opening stanza. Hartwick knotted the score with 3:54 remaining, but the Bombers took a 2-1 lead into the second after Walker fed Cotton with 1:35 remaining.
IC came out and scored the next eight goals to take command of the game. Shumway scored all three of his goals in a span of 7:50, and Januszkiewicz, Cotton, Della Puca, and Walker added goals during the run as Ithaca took a 9-1 lead into halftime. Six of the seven goals in the run were assisted.
The Bomber defense held Hartwick scoreless for 23:26 spanning the first, second, and third quarters while outscoring Hartwick 10-0 during that timeframe.
Morrell and Januszkiewicz tacked on two third-quarter goals, and Della Puca, junior
Sean Ferrito, and freshman Brendan Lao added goals in the fourth quarter as Ithaca improved to 7-1 in road games.
