ITHACA, N.Y. – The third-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team made its long-awaited return to Higgins Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, welcoming SUNY Oneonta for a nonconference tilt in the friendly confines of its home field. The Bombers got off to a slow start, but were able to find themselves over the course of the contest to pull away for a 12-6 victory. The win improved IC's record to 7-0 to begin the year, the program's longest streak to begin a season since a nine-win run in 2009.
 
The Bombers were once-again paced by leading scorer Jack Shumway. The senior attacker racked up six points on five goals and an assist. He also added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
 
Junior attacker Jake Cotton, fresh off being named Empire 8 and ECAC Division III North Offensive Player of the Week, collected four points on two goals and two helpers. Sophomore attacker Will Witter posted five points, netting his second hat-trick in as many games, while also adding two assists.
 
Sophomore Josh Della Puca added a pair of tallies, while Conner Crosson picked up three helpers to round out the point scoring for IC.
 
Senior keeper Jack Deragon got the nod in the IC cage and again was solid. Coming off being named Empire 8 and NCAA Division III North Goalie of the Week, amassed seven saves to improve his record to 6-0 on the year.
 
Ithaca has grown accustomed to fast starts during its dominant run through the early portion of the schedule, rolling up a 39-7 scoring advantage in the first quarter of games coming into the day. Tuesday had a much different feel, as SUNY Oneonta held significant possession during the opening minutes, jumping out to a 2-0 lead over an IC squad that looked to be shaking off some rust from its travels during the past week.
 
Following the sharp start by the visitors, IC began to find its footing down the back stretch of the quarter. Cotton and Shumway helped break the ice on the scoreboard for the Bombers 5:18 into the period. Cotton picked out Shumway on excellent cross-field pass on the left side of the 12-yard box. The senior fired a laser into the top right corner of the net for his 28^th of the season.
 
A three-goal barrage in the final 1:26 of the quarter lifted IC to a lead it would not relinquish. Cotton started the spree, sweeping home a loose-ball from a mad-scramble in front of the Oneonta net. Shumway stayed red-hot with two goals in a 16-second span. Working in transition, Cotton passed to Witter, who joined Shumway in a 2-on-0 against Oneonta goalie Andrew Helfman. Witter faked shot and passed to Shumway at the left post for the easy deposit into the net. The senior netted his hat-trick with seven seconds remaining the period, picking up a turnover and firing home shot as he tumbled to the turf.
 
IC continued to pepper the Oneonta net with 16 shot during the second stanza, scoring the only three goals of the period. Two of the goals came on the power-play, as the Red Dragons got into significant penalty trouble, giving IC four extra-man opportunities in the quarter.
 
Della Puca netted his first of two power-play tallies with 6:47 left in the half. Shumway scored the other two goals to finish with five in the half. On the first, he pump faked a shot, before firing a howitzer into the upper right corner. The last of IC's seven-goal run was scored by the senior with 2:59 left in the half, as Crosson picked out Shumway wide open at the left post. He faked the goalie out of position, before dumping the ball into the vacated net.
 
The margin stayed at five goals during the third period with both sides scoring three times. Witter scored twice during the frame, which included a huge answer with 1:26 left in the period after the Red Dragons cut the deficit to 9-5. The talented sophomore marked his second tally of the game on a hard drive down the left side of the attacking zone, ripping a shot short-side past Helfman.
 
The lead was more than enough for the IC defense to hold. The Bombers forced 14 caused turnovers in a strong overall defensive effort on the day. Despite playing without a couple mainstays on the back end, four different players finished with a pair of caused turnovers, while 10 players forced at least one miscue in the game. Junior Winston Wenham and freshman Aaron McCartney each finished with a pair of caused turnovers in the game.
 
Della Puca and Witter reestablished the seven-goal lead with back-to-back tallies to begin the fourth quarter. Although Oneonta would score on the man-advantage with six seconds left, it was much too late to mount a serious comeback charge.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Saturday, March 25, when it jumps back into Empire 8 play at Utica College. Start time for the contest is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.