ITHACA, N.Y. – The 19^th-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team had its most crucial game of the season to-date on Saturday afternoon when it continued its season-long homestand with a big Liberty League matchup against 15^th-ranked RPI. In a game that gave the winner an early leg up in the chase for postseason seeding, the Engineers took the regular-season meeting for the second straight season, besting the Bombers by a 13-11 margin at frosty Higgins Stadium. The loss drops IC's record to 4-2 on the year and 1-1 in Liberty League play.
 
Ithaca and RPI have had a burgeoning rivalry over the past few seasons, coinciding with the resurgence of the Engineers' men's lacrosse program into a serious player on the regional and national stage. Last season, RPI took the regular-season matchup convincingly in Troy, N.Y., only to have Ithaca end the Engineers' season with a thrilling 8-7 double-overtime win in the Semifinal Round of the Liberty League Tournament. That win by the Bombers not only derailed RPI's Liberty League title hopes, but it also effectively kept the Engineers out of the NCAA Tournament, with Ithaca securing the only at-large berth out of the Liberty League in 2018. With both team's entering Saturday's meeting with national rankings, the contest figured to again have major implications moving forward despite it being just the second Liberty League contest for Ithaca and the first of the season for RPI. Ultimately, it was some crucial miscues down the stretch that snuffed out Ithaca's chances at gaining the significant head-to-head win.
 
The turning point in the game came during the third quarter. In a contest that was back-and-forth throughout, the Engineers were able to shell-shock the Bombers with a haymaker blow, breaking things open with a 5-1 scoring run over a 3:07 stretch late in the frame. The run turned an 8-8 deadlock into a 13-9 edge for the visitors heading into the final quarter. Although IC marked two goals in the fourth and had a couple late chances to bring things even closer, the mountain proved too high to climb in the 13-11 defeat.
 
Offensively, Ithaca was paced by senior midfielder Josh Della Puca who turned in one of his best career performances in the defeat. He posted a season-high seven points on the day, whipping home two goals and dishing out five assists in addition to corralling one ground-ball. The effort keyed a group of just five IC players that comprised all of the team's points on the day. Junior attackers Dan Lee and Ryan Ozsvath also posted monster afternoons on the stat sheet. Lee racked up five points on four goals and one assist, while Ozsvath also joined Lee with four goals on the day. Sophomore attacker Connor Brumfield delivered one goal, while senior midfielder Conner Crosson notched one assist to round out Ithaca's scoring.
 
Defensively, the Bombers forced 14 caused turnovers on the day. Senior long-stick mid Sean Seaberg amassed a game-high four caused turnovers and added six ground-balls. Sophomores Jake Hall-Goldman and Logan Adams, as well as junior Aaron McCartney and senior defensive mid Brendan King also had big days. Adams posted three caused turnovers and six ground-balls, while the other three each posted two caused turnovers.
 
In goal, first-year Connor Thornton posted another double-digit save effort, but suffered his second loss as a collegiate starter. He finished the day with 10 saves. In the opposite cage, Brian Doughty racked up 15 saves for the Engineers, seven of which came during a clutch fourth quarter for the RPI net-minder. The performance certainly loomed large in helping the Engineers hold on for the win.
 
After two straight games of decisive advantages at the 'X', the Bombers found things more difficult on the draw on Saturday. IC's primary duo of sophomore transfer Matt Pagliaro and first-year Cam MacNicol combined to go just 9-of-25 in faceoffs. Seaberg stepped in during the final quarter and went 2-for-3. Tyler Hancock took all 28 draws for the Engineers, winning 17 of them, while also chipping in offensively with three points which included his first two goals of the season.
 
It was the visitors that jumped out on Ithaca with the early energy. Scoring strikes by Will Killeen and Owen Putman 1:10 apart lifted RPI to an early 2-0 lead just 2:28 into the game. Although Ozsvath and Della Puca would both find the back of the net, RPI would add a goal by Cooper Urban with one-second remaining in the quarter to take a 4-2 lead into the first intermission.
 
JP McGrady stretched the Engineers lead to a three-goal margin 2:48 into the second quarter, but IC punched back with a 4-1 scoring run to pull back on level terms. Della Puca created the first of his five assisting plays on the day to spark the run, threading the needle with a perfect pass to Brumfield on the back door for an easy goal to make it 5-3. Ozsvath scored back-to-back goals less than three-minutes apart, the second of which came with Ithaca working on a man-advantage opportunity. Della Puca then sniped one into the upper left corner from long-range at the top of the point to tie things up with 2:56 remaining in the half.
 
Unfortunately, IC was not able to get to the half on level terms, as Hancock won the ensuing draw after the Della Puca equalizer and took things coast-to-coast for the score just 14-seconds later.
 
Putman would reestablish a multi-goal lead just 17-seconds into the third quarter, capping off a quick passing play with Hancock. However, IC would push back with Ozsvath and Lee scoring off Della Puca feeds to again bring things back to level terms at 8-8 with 8:39 to play in the frame.
 
RPI took control of the game during the waning moments of the third, pumping in five goals over a 3:07 span. The first came on a goal that looked as though it could have gone either as an IC push or a crease violation by Jacob Shavel. Ultimately, the officials ruled the former and the goal counted to give the Engineers the lead. A minute later Putman and Urban scored just 13-seconds apart to suddenly extend the RPI lead to three goals at 11-8. Although Lee would pull one back for IC with his second of the day, Hancock and Putman again would tally goals just one-minute apart to extend the RPI advantage to its widest margin of the day at 13-9.
 
Lee scored both of Ithaca's goals in the fourth quarter, the first coming with 9:01 to play with a slick shot off an excellent feed from Della Puca. The second was snipe from the left wing on a transition break. Ithaca had several other chances in the frame, but RPI keeper Brian Doughty stood tall. He denied Ozsvath, Della Puca and sophomore Connor Till on successive chances from point-blank range which were IC's best of the quarter.
 
Ithaca will be back in action on Wednesday, March 27, with another big Liberty League matchup against No. 20 St. Lawrence at Higgins Stadium. Start time is set for 4:00 p.m.