ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 19 Ithaca College men's lacrosse team made its long-anticipated return to Higgins Stadium for its Liberty League home opener against Vassar on Saturday afternoon. The Bombers continued its momentum in League play, totally stymying the Brewers in a low-scoring 9-2 contest. The win improved Ithaca's record to 8-1 on the campaign and 3-1 in Liberty League action.
 
Saturday was another textbook defensive performance by an Ithaca squad that was also rock solid earlier in the week in an 8-5 road victory at 17^th-ranked St. Lawrence. The Bombers conceded just twice on the afternoon, while it forced a season-high 25 caused turnovers in the dominant defensive effort.

In goal, sophomore Robby Atwood was stellar again in running his record to 8-1 on the year. He was repeatedly there when called upon, registering seven saves in 57-minutes of action. Freshman TJ Brennan played the final three minutes, recording two saves and not conceding a goal.
 
Defensively, 14 players recorded at least one caused turnover, while seven of those players marked multiple in the contest. Sophomore Aaron McCartney was once again all over the field wreaking havoc on the Brewers. He led the way with five caused turnovers and nine ground-balls, while he also registered one point on an assist.
 
Graduate-student Winston Wenham posted three caused turnovers and four ground-balls. Junior long-stick Sean Seaberg added two caused turnovers and five ground-balls, going 3-for-6 on the draw. Senior Keith Morrissey and freshman Jake Hall-Goldman each added a caused turnover from the defense, while they combined for five ground-balls on the day.
 
The strong defensive work extended to the midfield with several players getting in on the act. Seniors Steven Landspurg and Kaelan Fitzpatrick as well as juniors Conner Crosson and Brendan King each chipped in two caused turnovers.
 
Offensively, the brunt of the production came from a pair of hat-trick efforts coming from sophomore Ryan Ozsvath and junior Will Witter. Ozsvath scored twice during the opening half, while he added Ithaca's final goal of the afternoon to cap his three-point effort. It was the sophomore's second consecutive game with a hat trick, while it was his sixth total effort of at least three goals on the year. Witter also continued to round into form following a return to the lineup earlier this week against St. Lawrence. He played a huge role in the attacking zone, registering his first hat trick of the season and marking his second straight three-point game this week.
 
Crosson also added a multi-point effort, tallying a goal and an assist. Seniors Jake Cotton and Kaelan Fitzpatrick each scored once on the day, while junior Brendan King and freshman Dillon Fitzpatrick added one point each coming on assists.
 
It was actually Vassar that took the early lead in the contest with a goal just 1:43 into the game. Nick Diamond sent a feed from the left goal-line extended to Michael Mullin at the left wing. The Brewers shooter took a hop-step and wired a laser that bested Atwood five-hole to lift the visitors the early 1-0 lead. It would be some of the only gaps Vassar would find in the attacking zone throughout the entire day.
 
Ithaca responded with the final two goals in the opening quarter. It did not take long for IC to equalize the game, as the home side took advantage of its lone man-up opportunity to level the score just over one-minute after Mullin's opener. Working a quick passing play, Crosson sent a skip pass from the central attacking zone to Ozsvath just off the left post. The sophomore quickly corralled the pass and dumped an underhand scoop-shot through the legs of Vassar Matt Boyd.
 
Witter gave Ithaca lead it would not relinquish just under two minutes later. Making an excellent run from behind the cage, he gained a step on his marking defender and bested Boyd from just off the right post to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Bombers.
 
The score easily could have been worse going into the second frame, but Boyd was stellar throughout the afternoon. The Vassar keeper finished with 19 saves, seven of which came during the first quarter to keep the visitors in the contest. Despite a hefty 11-to-4 edge in faceoff wins, the Brewers were unable to generate anything on IC's motivated backline to make Boyd's stellar keeping prove influential.
 
Ithaca outscored Vassar 3-0 during the second quarter. Witter got things started 2:30 into the frame, labeling a shot into the top right corner from one knee after the junior attacker fought through a stick check. Ozsvath extended the lead 6:27 later, receiving a backdoor cross-crease pass from King and depositing a pop-shot into the open cage. Crosson capped the scoring shortly after, finishing off a coast-to-coast run after Atwood denied a glorious Vassar scoring chance on the other end. IC would take the 5-1 lead to the half.
 
Although Boyd continued to keep the visitors in the game with nine additional saves once play resumed for the second half, Ithaca was able to keep the pressure and produce some additional insurance goals to pull comfortably out of reach.
 
Ithaca outscored Vassar 4-1 in the third quarter to salt away the victory. All of the scoring came in the final 4:37 of the frame.
 
First, Witter notched his hat trick, at 4:37 capitalizing on a Vassar turnover. Cotton scooped up a mishandled pass on a clear attempt near the right sideline and hit Witter in the slot. The junior had to make a couple of fakes to shake free of a defender and Boyd, but was able to dump a shot into the cage.
 
Kaelan Fitzpatrick converted a goal 1:27 later, making an excellent run down the right wing, before sending a laser into the upper left corner where the post and crossbar connected. After a Vassar goal by Austin Mello snapped a nearly 40-minute goalless stretch for the visitors, Cotton and Ozsvath finished off the quarter in style with goals in the final 1:26. Cotton's goal came in transition off another failed clear, as McCartney picked off a pass and hit Cotton with a pass behind the defense. Ozsvath finished off his hat trick coming off a great feed from Dillon Fitzpatrick from left-to-right across the face of goal.
 
Atwood and Brennan combined for four saves during the final frame to make the 9-2 lead stand up in the victory.
 
Ithaca returns to action this Wednesday, April 4, when it welcomes Nazareth for a non-League matchup. Start time at Higgins Stadium is set for 4:00 p.m.