ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The 15^th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team hit the road for the first time in the month of April, traveling to the Hudson Valley to take on Bard College on Saturday afternoon. The Bombers bounced back in the win column with a convincing 12-3 win over the Raptors, improving their record to 11-2 on the year and 5-2 in Liberty League action to hold strong in the third position in the League standings.
 
IC took control of the contest relatively early. The Bombers scored three times in the opening quarter and added six during the second frame. Meanwhile, Ithaca's defense was rock solid in keeping Bard off the scoreboard during the first 44:25 of play. Although the Raptors would finally see a shot past IC's sophomore keeper Robby Atwood just before the third quarter came to conclusion, the Bombers lead had already ballooned to 12-0. Bard tacked on two additional goals in the fourth quarter when IC had mostly reserves in at all positions, but home tallies proved inconsequential in the final result.
 
Offensively, six Bombers registered multi-point games on the day. Leading the way was freshman Connor Brumfield who registered his third consecutive outing with three-or-more points. He rung up his fourth hat trick of the season with three goals, bringing his season total to 23.
 
Brumfield's high school teammate, sophomore Dan Lee, as well as sophomore transfer Ryan Ozsvath each registered two-goal games in the win. For Lee, it was the second-year talent's first multi-goal game of 2018, while it marked the ninth time that Ozsvath has scored two-plus goals this season. Junior midfielder Conner Crosson, senior midfielder Stephen Morrell and junior midfielder Greg Drillock each notched two points apiece. Crosson had a goal and an assist, while Morrell and Drillock each had a pair of helpers. It was the first points of the season for Drillock, who made his season debut earlier this week against RIT, after missing the first 11 games of the season with an injury.
 
Seniors Jake Cotton and Kaelan Fitzpatrick each tallied one goal in the game, while junior Brendan King and freshman Dillon Fitzpatrick also chipped in one goal apiece in the contest.
 
Defensively, the Bombers were relentless in limiting the Raptors to just 23 total shot attempts in the game. Of those 23, only 13 found their way on goal, while only four of those came primarily against the starting defense corps during IC's dominant opening half. The Bombers finished the game with 13 caused turnovers, while they limited Bard to just 11-of-24 in clear attempts.
 
Pacing the Bombers were a trio of players with two caused turnovers. Senior Keith Morrissey posted two caused turnovers and two ground-balls, while sophomore Aaron McCartney and freshman Connor Till also matched that stat line. Graduate-student Winston Wenham posted on caused turnover and four ground-balls, while junior long-stick Sean Seaberg amassed one caused turnover and two grounders. Senior faceoff specialist Steven Landspurg also snagged a caused turnover and went 8-for-12 in the circle.
 
In goal, sophomore Robby Atwood improved to 11-2 on the season with a solid effort through 45-minutes. He stopped eight Bard shots, while conceding just one goal through three quarters. Freshman TJ Brennan took over for the final quarter, registering two saves and conceding two goals.
 
IC jumped out to an early advantage in the opening five-minutes of the game. King broke the scoreless deadlock at 10:41 when he wired home his 13^th goal of the campaign. Just 48-seconds later, Kaelan Fitzpatrick whipped a shot past the Bard keeper to double the advantage. Crosson fired home the final goal of the quarter at 5:59.
 
The second quarter was an absolute clinic by the Bombers. IC outshot the Raptors 14-to-3 during the final 15-minutes before halftime, outscoring the Raptors 6-to-0 in the frame to take the lopsided lead to the break. Brumfield scored his first of two in the quarter to get things started 1:16 into the frame. Cotton followed with a goal 2:21 later, bringing his career total to 99. Lee and Brumfield scored 1:36 apart a few minutes later to widen the edge to 7-0, while Ozsvath bested Bard keeper Lyle Healey for his 31^st of the season with 3:45 left. Lee put the cap on the dominant quarter with his second of the frame with just 41-seconds left.
 
Ithaca snuffed out any hope of a comeback early in the second session, pushing the margin into double-digits. Brumfield tallied his hat-trick goal to widen the lead to 10-0 at 11:12 remaining in the third. Just 59-seconds later, Ozsvath scored his second of the afternoon. Dillon Fitzpatrick capped the scoring for IC with his eighth of the campaign with 4:54 to play in the third.
 
Ithaca returns to action on Wednesday, April 18, when it takes on rival SUNY Cortland in a big non-league matchup at Higgins Stadium. Start time is set for 7:00 p.m.