ITHACA, N.Y. - Max Barish scored two goals as the Ithaca College men's soccer team defeated Union, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Higgins Stadium.
 
Ithaca is now 10-1-3 on the season with a 3-1-2 mark in the Liberty League while Union falls to 5-8-0 and 1-5-0 in conference.
 
"This was another fantastic performance for us today," said Head Coach Kyle Dezotell. "Our players were focused and very attentive to detail throughout the 90 minutes. To get six points in a Liberty League doubleheader weekend is so difficult and we are very pleased."
 
The Bombers wasted no time in setting the pace against Union, scoring just 37 seconds into the game.
 
Senior Nate Schoen sent in a shot, which was deflected by a Union defender, right to Barish, who headed it in for his first goal of the season.
 
Ithaca went into halftime with a 2-0 lead following an own goal from Union's Harrison Wenzel. IC's Luke Karen made a nice move around the Dutchmen goalkeeper Trevor Krupp and kept the ball in play before crossing the ball to the center of the goal where Wenzel knocked it in during a clear attempt.
 
The Bombers scored their third and final goal in the 54^th minute of play. Jack Monnes sent a thru ball up, where Barish was able to get a head on it and knock it through Krupp's hands for his second goal of the game and the season.
 
Despite the 3-0 deficit, Union continued to try to offensive opportunities and it paid off with just 2:26 left in the game when Jason Miller scored, cutting IC's lead to 3-1.
 
Union was not without its chances to score earlier in the game, but Ithaca was able to keep the Dutchmen off the board.
 
Union's Connor Horan fired off a shot at the 11:53 mark which hit the left post and bounced away, giving goalkeeper Max Lichtenstein enough time to corral it.
 
The Dutchmen had another chance in the 18^th minute, when Griffin Cowles ripped a shot past Lichtenstein, who was out of goal following a scramble. Sophomore Drew Cohn came up with a clutch defensive save on the line to preserve the Bombers' 1-0 lead.
 
From that point, Ithaca maintained much of the possession, coming up with three more shots and a goal before the halftime buzzer.
 
At the 22:33 mark, sophomore Ben Quatresols' shot was saved by Krupp, before a Schoen attempted in the 26^th minute sailed wide. In the 39^th minute, Duncan Schnur put a ball on frame, forcing Krupp to make the save.
 
Union opened up the second half with an offensive push, testing IC's defense and Lichtenstein.
 
Just 3:15 into the half, a Francesco D'Iorio shot hit the crossbar before Miller put a ball on goal, which Lichtenstein stopped.
 
Following Ithaca's third goal, much of the game was played in the midfield, with neither team registering a shot for nearly 12 minutes.
 
In the 67^th minute, the Bombers recorded back-to-back corner kicks, resulting in a Justinian Michaels shot which was high.
 
Ithaca forced substitute goalkeeper Dennis Johns to make several stops in the final 15 minutes of play, starting with a Schoen shot in the 77^th minute. Johns then made another save I the 86^th minute on a Barish attempt to send things the other way.
 
The following minute, Union tested Lichtenstein once again, but the goalkeeper made the play on Horan's shot.
 
Statistically, the Bombers outshot Union 12-8 and recorded two more corner kicks (7-5) than the Dutchmen.
 
Lichtenstein finished the day with three saves while Krupp had three and Johns had two for the Dutchmen.
 
Ithaca is back in action next Saturday at RPI for a 4 p.m. contest. The Bombers will round out the regular-season with two home games against RIT on October 24 and Vassar on October 27.
 
"The league is incredibly tight this year and we know we still have lots of work to do over the next two weeks," said Dezotell. "We look forward to getting back to work this week to prepare for RPI."