ITHACA, N.Y. – The 15^th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team played on home turf for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon when the Bombers faced a scrappy SUNY Geneseo at a frosty Higgins Stadium. Behind a big effort coming out of the halftime break, Ithaca erased a slim deficit to defeat the upstart Knights in an 11-9 final. The win improved Ithaca's record to 2-0 on the young season.
 
While Saturday's contest may not have been a masterpiece in the traditional sense of the word, it certainly may have been a crucial lesson builder for a team working in several new contributors this season. The Bombers did not find things quite as easy as they did during their midweek thrashing of Lycoming, but were able to buckle down when facing its first true adversity of the year. Ithaca showed its mettle down the stretch, outscoring the Knights 6-2 in the final 30-minutes to seal the close victory.
 
Senior midfielder Josh Della Puca paced Ithaca with big two-way effort. He found the back of the net for the first two goals of the season, while he also chipped in a game-high three assists in the five-point outing. Defensively, he added two ground-balls and one caused turnover on the afternoon.
 
Junior attacker Ryan Ozsvath continued his sniping ways for IC with his first hat-trick outing of the year. He finished the day with four points, chipping in one assist in addition to his three goals. Ozsvath led all players with 13 shot attempts in the contest.
 
Two other Bombers posted multi-point efforts on the day. Sophomore Dillon Fitzpatrick posted a three-point day, scoring two crucial goals in the second-half rally, while also adding one assist. Classmate Connor Brumfield did not quite hit the same highs from his nine-point barrage against Lycoming, but still added his second multi-point outing of the year with one goal and one assist. The second-year attacker also had a big defensive game with four ground-balls and three caused turnovers.
 
Rounding out Ithaca's goal scorers were senior Brendan King, sophomore Kyle Johnson and sophomore Connor Till. Each player registered one goal on the afternoon. First-year Drew Turner also picked up his first collegiate point on an assist.
 
Defensively, Ithaca turned in another strong outing with 16 caused turnovers on the day. Junior Aaron McCartney was a wrecking crew for IC on the backend, finishing with five caused turnovers and four ground-balls. Sophomore Jake Hall-Goldman added two caused turnovers and four ground-balls, while senior long-stick middie Sean Seaberg also posted two forced miscues and corralled four grounders. King also showcased his excellent two-way talents, amassing two caused turnovers and four ground-balls in addition to his goal on the other end.
 
First-year Connor Thornton ran his record to 2-0 in the Ithaca cage with an encouraging day. The rookie was much busier than his collegiate debut against Lycoming and really grew into the contest as the day progressed. Although victimized for a couple of sharp-angle goals in the first-half, Thornton locked things down on the Knights in the second session, allowing just two goals on 12 Geneseo shots on goal over the final two quarters. He finished the day with 17 saves in the victory.
 
Initially, it looked as though the Bombers were poised for a much more comfortable afternoon. IC carried over its offensive momentum from Wednesday with a quick start to Saturday's contest. The scoring came through the crosse of Ozsvath early, as the junior struck for three goals in the opening quarter to stake Ithaca to the multi-goal lead. Della Puca stretched the lead to 4-0 with 1:26 left in the frame, as the senior whipped home a shot from the left wing. IC would take a 4-1 lead to the first break with James Pratt bringing one goal back for the visitors with 27-seconds remaining in the first.
 
The Ithaca offense bogged down in the second quarter providing a small crack that Geneseo would exploit in snatching back momentum. Behind a dominant faceoff effort that kept possession with the Knights for the majority of the frame, Geneseo surged into the lead. The visitors outscored the Bombers 6-to-1 in the quarter, taking a 7-5 lead to the halftime break. Pratt keyed the surge with two additional goals to finish out his hat trick on the day, while Connor Griffin, Matt Malone and Patrick Morris added scores.
 
The halftime break was crucial for IC, as head coach Jeff Long's troops came out much more organized to begin the third. Brumfield pulled the Bombers within a goal just 56-seconds into the contest with a snipe from the right wing into the lower left corner of the cage. The goal set the tone for the half.
 
IC leveled the game at 7-7 midway through the third when King and Della Puca synced up on a quick-strike passing play. Della Puca setup the play from the left wing and King wired a laser into the upper right corner. Fitzpatrick put the Bombers up for good with a goal 47-seconds before the quarter expired. Della Puca again was the creator on that scoring tally, picking out Fitzpatrick on a cross-zone feed, while the sophomore made no mistakes with a quick shot into the lower left.
 
The good vibes for the home side continued into the fourth, as Ithaca scored twice in the first part of the frame to extend the advantage back to three goals at 10-7. Della Puca and Brumfield synced up on a excellent passing play with the sophomore threading the needle to the senior for a score in the slot. Till tacked on his goal with 7:59 to play, sending home a long-range bounce-shot that nestled just inside the crossbar.
 
Geneseo did not back down and closed the gap with two scores within the span of a minute to again close the IC lead down the stretch. Sean Byrne beat Thorton on a nasty snap shot from the wing with 5:09 left, while Morris struck for a highlight-reel behind the back goal in transition to make the game 10-9 with 4:13 to play.
 
Needing a big save in the clutch, Thornton came up with the save of the day to deny Chris Martello from point-blank range with 2:49 to play. IC would gain some insurance on the ensuing possession, as Conner Crosson picked up Fitzpatrick with a perfect pass, setting up the sophomore for his second goal of the day with 2:02 to play. The Ithaca defense and Thornton in goal kept the margin the same over the remainder of regulation with Hall-Goldman creating a caused turnover and Thornton making one final save to ice the contest.
 
Ithaca returns to action next Wednesday, March 6, when it travels to Oswego State for a 4:00 p.m. start against the Lakers.