TROY, N.Y. – The 13^th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team dived back into Liberty League play on Saturday afternoon when it hit the road for another challenging test at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Unfortunately, IC was unable to keep its perfect record intact, as the Engineers raced past the Bombers 16-7 at East Campus Stadium in Troy, N.Y. The loss drops Ithaca to 6-1 on the year, while it evens the team's record at 1-1 in Liberty League play.
 
Although the Bombers got off to their characteristic fast start, they were unable to generate much offense over the final 45-minutes in the defeat. Using a four-goal run, IC took a 5-2 lead in the contest with 1:40 remaining in the opening quarter. RPI answered back with two goals before quarter reached its conclusion to shave the deficit. Overall, the Engineers would shutout the Bombers in each of the next two quarters, while the home side continued to find its gear in attack, ringing up seven goals of its own to take command of the contest.
 
Ithaca was finally able to find a crack the scoresheet again in the final quarter, putting two goals behind RPI keeper Parker Smith. However, at that point the damage was already done. RPI extended its wide lead with five additional goals in the final frame to deal Ithaca its worst loss since falling by a 12-goal margin to Tufts in the 2016 NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
Offensively, seven players got in the goal column for IC, each tallying one score on the day. Senior midfielder Stephen Morrell was Ithaca's lone multi-point effort on the day, adding an assist. Also chipping in goals for the Bombers were juniors Conner Crosson, Owen Smith and Brendan King, as well as freshmen Connor Brumfield, Dillon Fitzpatrick and Jake Hall-Goldman. For Hall-Goldman it was his first career collegiate goal. Junior midfielder Josh Della Puca added an assist for IC.
 
Defensively, Ithaca was able to force eight caused turnovers in the contest. King led the way with a pair of forced RPI miscues. Graduate Winston Wenham, senior Keith Morrissey, juniors Sean Seaberg and Aaron Sanchez, as well as sophomore Aaron McCartney each finished with one caused turnover. Wenham and Seaberg each corralled six ground-balls, while Morrissey finished with five.
 
In goal, sophomore goalie Robby Atwood suffered the first defeat of his collegiate career after posting wins in his first eight starts. He finished with nine saves on the afternoon.
 
Throughout much of the early part of this season it has been the Bombers starts that have paved the way to victory. Ithaca looked poised to continue that trend in this game. Trailing 2-1 after back-to-back Engineer scores, Ithaca got its talented attack into gear. Four straight IC tallies jettisoned the Bombers back into the lead at 5-2 with 1:40 left.
 
King got the scoring started with his 10^th of the season at 7:36 to level the score. Less than two-minutes later, Ithaca used a pair of quick strikes to pull ahead. Conner Crosson rifled home his eighth of the campaign with 5:50 left in the first, while Brumfield extended his goal-scoring streak to seven games to begin his collegiate career, tallying a goal right off the ensuing faceoff 11-seconds later at 5:39. Dillon Fitzpatrick capped the run at 1:40 with an unassisted score.
 
RPI was able to snatch momentum away from the visitors as the quarter concluded. JT Kelly pumped home goals past Atwood just 21-seconds apart with around one-minute remaining to shave IC's advantage to 5-4 through 15-minutes. Matthew Gilman leveled the score shortly after play resumed, scoring on the man-up opportunity at 14:08, as Seaberg was whistled for holding.
 
The Engineers went on to score twice more to send the home side into halftime leading 7-5. RPI built on that advantage in the third frame, outscoring the Bombers 4-0 to go into the final frame with an 11-5 lead. Although Owen Smith and Jake Hall-Goldman were able to final snap Ithaca's lengthy scoring drought the game at that point was out of reach of the comeback bid.
 
On the day, RPI finished with a 43-to-26 advantage in shot attempts. It marked the first time this season that Ithaca had not out-shot its opponent.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Wednesday, March 28, when it continues its Liberty League road swing to begin the season. The challenge will not get any easier, as the Bombers will look to rebound against nationally-ranked St. Lawrence in Canton, N.Y. Action is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m.