ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 3 Ithaca College men's soccer team won its first-ever Liberty League Tournament game on Tuesday afternoon with a 1-0 victory over No. 6 Skidmore College.
 
After 80:46 of scoreless play, it was IC's Thomas Pierce who put away the game winner. After receiving a pass from junior Kevin Turi, Pierce dribbled and fired off a shot into the right corner of the net to put the Bombers up a goal.
 
The win sends IC to the semifinal round of the Liberty League Tournament, where the Bombers will face No. 2 seeded RPI in a 1:30 p.m. contest at St. Lawrence. The winner of that semifinal game will move on to play the winner of St. Lawrence and Hobart in Sunday's final at 1:30 p.m.
 
It was a back-and-forth match between the Bombers and Skidmore, with both teams creating scoring opportunities throughout the game.
 
Ithaca's first shot of the game was just 1:23 in, when first-year Kyle Sicke's attempt was blocked by an Ithaca defender.
 
Just 20 seconds later, Skidmore's David Braman had a breakaway one-on-one with goalkeeper Max Lichtenstein, but his shot was wide of the goal.
 
The Bombers tested Thoroughbred's goalkeeper Sebastian Bosch for the first time at the 5:37 mark, but Bosch came up with the save on Pierce's shot.
 
Lichtenstein made two saves in a row, in the 12^th and the 18^th minute on Ben Caples and Mike Park attempts.
 
In the 27^th minute, Ithaca's defense came up with a big save to keep the Thoroughbreds off the board. With Lichtenstein out of goal, a shot from Stanley Langyintuo was saved on the line by Pierce, forcing a corner kick but preventing the score.
 
Tom Dillmann had a great chance for the Bombers a few minutes later in the 33^rd minute when he put a direct kick on goal. The ball hit off the crossbar, which gave Bosch time to put it out of bounds and keep IC from scoring.
 
The Bombers came out with offensive pressure in the opening minutes of the second half, starting with a Jon Kyriakidis shot 3:37 in, which was saved by Bosch.
 
IC forced Bosch to make another play in the 55^th minute on a Turi shot before Skidmore had its share of chances.
 
The Thoroughbreds recorded shots in the 52^nd, 61^st and 64^th, but all were high.
 
For the next 17 minutes, neither team would get a shot off until Pierce ultimately scored the game-winner in the 81^st minute. The goal marks Pierce's second of the season as he has scored in the last two games.
 
Statistically, the Bombers outshot Skidmore 12-8 while both teams registered four corner kicks.
 
Although Lichtenstein only picked up three saves on the day, he had a stellar performance in the net for the Bombers. Bosch finished with four saves for the Thoroughbreds.
 
Saturday's game against RPI with be the seventh time in eight years that the Bombers have reached the semifinal round of the conference tournament.