ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team hit the road for another challenging Liberty League game against a nationally-ranked opponent on Wednesday evening when the Bombers traveled to Rochester, N.Y., to face No. 2 RIT. The Bombers hung tough against the Tigers for 40-minutes, but the hosts pulled away down the stretch to remain perfect in Liberty League play with an 18-7 win. With the loss, Ithaca falls to 7-4 on the year and 3-3 in Liberty League play.
 
The Bombers entered Wednesday's contest looking to swing the momentum back in their favor following a difficult defeat at nationally-ranked Union over the weekend. IC turned in an encouraging performance for much of the game, hanging right with the high-scoring Tigers with some feisty defending throughout much of the night. The latter stages of the third quarter proved to be the difference, as RIT scored five times over the final half of the frame to break open what was a 7-5 game to a 12-5 margin heading into the fourth. The RIT attack never let up in the fourth, adding six additional goals in the final frame.
 
Leading the way for Ithaca offensively was the duo of sophomore attacker Connor Brumfield and junior attacker Dan Lee. Both players registered hat tricks in the contest, providing the majority of the IC offense on the night. It was Brumfield's fourth hat trick performance of the year, while it extended the sophomore's goal-scoring streak to four straight games. The effort was the third hat trick for Lee this season and the third multi-goal effort over the past four games.
 
First-year Drew Turner also registered a multi-point game for IC. He finished with one goal and one assist on the night. Chipping in one point apiece on assists were junior Kevin Enos, sophomore Connor Till, and redshirt-junior Sean Seaberg.
 
Defensively, the Bombers were led by rookie Demetri Lowry. The first-year defensive mid finished with three caused turnovers and one ground-ball on the night. Sophomore Jake Hall-Goldman, junior Aaron McCartney and senior Josh Della Puca each added one forced miscue on the night. McCartney posted a game-high seven ground-balls for the Bombers, while Brumfield added three and Turner, Till, Seaberg and senior Owen Smith finished with two apiece.
 
In goal, first-year keeper Connor Thornton posted his second highest save output of the season in a valiant effort. He finished with 15 saves in the contest.
 
The Bombers got off to the perfect start to the contest, shocking the Tigers with two goals in the opening 2:37 of game action. Lee got the Bombers on the board 1:43 in when wired home a rocket from the point for a 1-0 lead. Turner followed on IC's second crack with extended zone time. He tickled the twine on a snap shot for his first goal in four games to double the IC lead to 2-0.
 
The Tigers found their legs shortly after the IC tally and finished out the quarter on a four-goal run. The scores all came in quick succession, spanning just 1:19 of game action. Ryan barnable and Shawn Nally sandwiched a pair of goals from Adam Wolf to lift the Tigers to a 4-2 advantage.
 
Ithaca clawed back within a goal early in the second quarter when Brumfield loaded up a laser from the right wing that slotted into the lower left corner to make it 4-3 with 12:46 left before halftime. A subsequent three-goal run for RIT widened the advantage to 7-3, before Brumfield added a second goal in the quarter with one-second remaining on the scoreboard to give the Bombers some momentum heading into the halftime break.
 
The two sides traded goals in the opening minutes of the third quarter with Brumfield cancelling out an opener from Adam Wolf in the frame. The score sat at 8-5 through the midway point of the quarter, before RIT took charge of the game. Ryan Barnable scored three times as part of the four-goal finish to the quarter. RIT followed that up with a three-goal start to the fourth quarter that pushed the advantage to double-digits at 15-5 with 9:53 left in regulation.
 
Lee would add two goals down the stretch of the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough to mount a comeback.
 
Ithaca will return home on Saturday, April 13, to celebrate Senior Day for the Class of 2019 in an Alumni Weekend Celebration. Start time for ceremonies will begin just prior to 1:00 p.m.