ITHACA, N.Y. – A goal from Thomas Pierce in the 63^rd minute pushed the No. 8 Ithaca College men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over Hobart in Liberty League action.
 
The victory bumps IC to 9-1-1 on the season with a 2-0 mark in conference play. Hobart is now 8-3 on the year and 2-1 in the Liberty League.
 
The win also marks the first over Hobart since IC defeated the Statesmen, 1-0, in 2010. The Bombers last beat Hobart at home in 2006.
 
It was a physical, back-and-forth game from the jump and after 62:06 of scoreless play, the Bombers finally capitalized to take the lead.
 
Following a Hobart foul just outside the box, Pierce netted his second goal of the season on a free kick to put IC up, 1-0.
 
The Statesmen had a slight shot advantage in the opening half, outshooting IC, 8-5.
 
The Bombers, however, put the first shot on goal just 1:35 in, as Jonathan Kyriakidis' shot was saved by goalkeeper Brian Salazar.
 
Senior goalkeeper Max Lichtenstein made his first of seven total saves in the 17^th minute, as he made a diving save to stop a Pete Critchlow shot. He then made another play on a Jack Fell ball at the 20:02 mark to keep the Statesmen off the board.
 
Lichtenstein continued his stellar day in the net with another save on a Nate Cary shot in the 25^th minute, followed by a stop on another Critchlow shot just two minutes later.
 
Senior Max Barish put a header on goal, following a corner kick, in the 31^st minute, which was stopped by Salazar and sent the other way. On the other end of the field, Lichtenstein made his fifth save of the game on a Tristan Cornell Roberts attempt a minute later.
 
Perhaps Ithaca's best chance of the game until the goal was a breakaway play with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Sophomore Ali Kapasi blocked the ball in the midfield, allowing for a Barish breakaway. The resulting shot sailed just wide of the goal, however, ultimately sending the two teams into the halftime break scoreless.
 
Hobart opened the second half with an offensive push. First, a shot from August Martini was blocked by an Ithaca defender, before Lichtenstein saved another Critchlow shot in the 50^th minute.
 
Sophomore Kyle Sicke had a solid scoring attempted in the 54^th minute, but his header was stopped by Salazar.
 
Following the Bombers' goal, Hobart continued to push in an attempt to get the equalizer.
 
Lichtenstein made the play on a Martini shot in the 74^th minute for his final save of the day. Ithaca's defense then ramped up to make several clutch clears to secure the game.
 
Lichtenstein picked up his conference-leading seventh shutout in 11 games. He has now let up just five goals all season while making 40 saves.
 
The Bombers are back in action on Saturday with a home contest against St. Lawrence at 2 p.m. Following that, IC hits the road for five-straight games before returning home on November 2 to close out the regular-season against RPI.