CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team hit the road for a late-season non-league contest on Wednesday evening when it made the short trip to face regional rival SUNY Cortland. In a series that has been as evenly matched as they come over the past several seasons, it was the Red Dragons that continued the recent trend of holding serve on home turf. The Bombers were stymied throughout the evening against their rivals, falling in a 12-5 final, which lowered the team's record to 8-5 heading into the regular-season finale next week.
 
The contest was quite close through 30-minutes of action, but the second half proved to be a trouble spot for IC. Cortland outscored Ithaca 6-to-1 over the final two quarters to break open what was just a 6-4 advantage for the hosts at halftime. It marked the third straight game that Ithaca has been outscored in the second half.
 
The Bombers struggled to get shots on target all night, as the Red Dragons defense locked down IC's usually prolific attack. Six IC players found the score-sheet on the night with only two registering multi-point efforts. Ithaca was paced by junior attackman Ryan Ozsvath and sophomore attackman Connor Brumfield who both posted a goal and assist apiece. Also netting goals for IC were senior midfielder Brendan King, sophomore midfielder Connor Till, and first-year midfielder Drew Turner. Senior midfielder Josh Della Puca also posted one point on the night on an assist.
 
Defensively, Ithaca was quite impressive for much of the evening before Cortland's extensive edge in possession finally took its toll over the final minutes. King had his best game of the season and one of the best of his IC career, finishing with a game-high five caused turnovers as well as six ground-balls. Sophomore Jake Hall-Goldman also turned in an excellent performance with four caused turnovers and two grounders. Junior Aaron McCartney finished with two forced miscues and three ground-balls, while redshirt-junior Sean Seaberg and first-year Conor Caiazza posted one caused turnover apiece. Seaberg added four ground-balls and Caiazza added two grounders.
 
In goal, first-year Connor Thornton hit double-digit saves for the third straight game and seventh time in 13 starts this spring. He finished with 11 stops on the night.
 
The opening quarter was characterized by some hard-nose defense by both sides. Between some excellent defensive zone marking and some aggressive work on the ride, goals were very hard to come by for both the Bombers and Red Dragons early. SUNY Cortland got on the board first when Troy Morris kicked off what would be a huge game for the Red Dragon rookie with the opening goal of the day just under 10-minutes into the game.
 
The Bombers responded with responded with a strong cap to the quarter to take a 2-1 lead to the break. The Cortland lead did not last long, as IC responded with an equalizer just 44-seconds after the Morris score. Much of Ithaca's best work on the night came in transition and the Bombers' opener was a classic example. Although Cortland won the ensuing possession, IC was able to force a turnover and launch a quick counter. King tallied the goal, finishing off a quick passing play with Ozsvath to knot things up. Ithaca followed with a go-ahead goal with 1:17 remaining in the quarter. The score was a great individual effort by Till, who took possession of the ball near the left sideline and made a strong run towards the slot, before slipping a shot past Cortland's keeper Marc Esposito to push IC ahead 2-1.
 
The lead stretched to 3-1 during the opening minutes of the second quarter. Turner tickled the twine with 10:23 left before halftime, firing home a laser from the right wing that was perfectly placed inside the far left post.
 
Unfortunately, some penalty trouble during the remainder of the second quarter really stole away much of the Bombers momentum. Cortland capitalized for four goals over a 2:56 span to pull ahead 5-3. Dante Yacavone and Dean Reilly put the bookend on the 4-0 scoring run with man-up goals, while Troy Morris and Alex Waelder added scores during the streak. IC would never pull level with the Red Dragons again throughout the duration of the game.
 
The Bombers looked to have maybe pulled back a little momentum with 3:37 to play in the second quarter. Again IC was able to victimize Cortland in transition, quickly restarting a Red Dragon turnover with a stretch pass. Seaberg moved the ball to Della Puca, who quickly fed Brumfield on the right side of the goal. The sophomore launched a snap shot past Esposito to cut the deficit to 5-4. However, Troy Morris' third goal of the half with 1:25 remaining capped the scoring with Cortland taking a 6-4 advantage to halftime.
 
Cortland held the majority of the possession during the third quarter and used the attacking zone time to widen the lead. Morris continued to be a thorn in the IC side with two more goals in the frame. Ozsvath would tally for the Bombers in the quarter, again finishing off a transition play with a beautiful patient move and silky smooth finish to pull the Bombers within three goals at 8-5 with 4:42 remaining in the third. Riley reestablished the four-goal cushion with 1:27 left in the third to close out the scoring in the quarter.
 
The Red Dragons continued to lock down IC's attack in the fourth quarter, blanking the Bombers over the final 15-minutes. Riley, Terrence Haggerty and Joey Panariello would find the back of the net for the hosts to extend the margin to the 12-5 final.
 
Ithaca will return to action on Wednesday, April 24, when the Bombers hit the road to face Clarkson in the Liberty League finale. Start time is set for 4:00 p.m.