Men's Lacrosse | 5/3/2016 3:18:00 PM

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team will bring a school-record 14-game winning streak and a number one ranking in both national polls into Wednesday afternoon's Empire 8 semifinal clash vs. St. John Fisher College at Higgins Stadium.

The Bombers (16-1, 8-0 Empire 8) and the Cardinals (8-8, 5-3) will square off at 4 p.m. in one semifinal, with No. 2 Nazareth (12-5, 7-1) hosting No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology (13-4, 6-2) at 4 p.m. in the second semifinal.

If the Bombers win, they will host the conference championship Saturday afternoon. 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.

Follow all of the action using our tournament central page, including links to live video and live stats, here.

For the first time in program history, IC is the number one ranked squad in Division III after completing a perfect regular season in the Empire 8 with a pair of conference wins.

The Bombers moved up one spot from No. 2 following conference wins against Elmira College (22-3) and Hartwick College (16-3) to conclude conference play undefeated for the first time since 2007.

Up next for the Bombers: a rematch with the Cardinals of St. John Fisher. Ithaca handed Fisher a 16-5 defeat April 13 on the Fisher campus.

Junior John Januszkiewicz eclipsed 100 career goals in the win and finished with two goals, sophomore Jake Cotton finished with three goals and three assists, and junior Jack Shumway scored five points on four goals with an assist in the win.

Senior Michael Walker handed out three assists, sophomore Stephen Morrell scored two goals with an assist, and senior Eli Gobrecht and freshman Josh Della Puca added two goals apiece for IC.

Ithaca won 70.8 percent (17 of 24) of faceoffs while senior Scott Sidnam made six saves. For Fisher, Nick Papayanakos had a hat trick and goalkeeper Tanner Swan made 14 stops.

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 during the 2016 season.
Cotton (34 goals, 44 assists, 78 points) leads IC in points and assists, followed by Shumway (42G, 12A), Januszkiewicz (37G, 16A), Walker (24G, 13A), Della Puca (23G, 11A), Morrell (27G, 6A), and sophomore Kaelan Fitzpatrick (19G, 14A).

Defensively, Ithaca ranks sixth in goals allowed per game (5.82). Gobrecht, an All-American defender, leads the team in caused turnovers (48) and is second in groundballs (77), while junior Grant Osadchey leads in groundballs (82).

Sidnam, who has gone 16-1 this year, has allowed only 6.19 goals per game with a .629 saves percentage. He ranks third nationally in both goals-against average and save percentage.

Fisher has been outscored by an average of 11.38 to 9.75 on the year, getting outscored 107-62 in the first and fourth quarters, while outscoring foes 94-75 in the second and third quarters.

Andrew Rosso (22G, 24A) leads the Cardinals in scoring, followed by Papayanakos (31G, 12A), Matthew Condon (17G, 15A), Drew Brown (22G, 4A), and Gary Bova (15G, 10A).

Defensively, Swan has an 8-8 record in the cage, allowing 11.16 goals per game with a .508 saves percentage.