VICTOR, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team opened up the 2020 season on Saturday afternoon when it made a short road trip to the Pinnacle Indoor Complex in Victor, New York, for a clash against 14^th-ranked St. John Fisher. Despite a strong offensive effort for the Bombers, the nationally-ranked Cardinals emerged victorious on the day, outlasting IC 18-13 in a high-scoring tilt. The loss marks the first time since the 2010 season that IC has not found the win column in a season-opening game.
 
It was a slow start that caused Ithaca to play from behind for much of the day. Although the Bombers tallied the opener just 23-seconds into the game on a wicked snipe from senior attacker Ryan Ozsvath, the Cardinals largely dominated the opening 15-minutes of the game. Fisher blitzed the Bombers for eight goals during the first frame to quickly cement a comfortable six-goal lead. Ithaca rebounded with a strong effort in the second quarter to close the margin to just two goals entering the halftime break, but the visitors were never able to get all the way back to level terms. While IC was able to cut the deficit to a single goal early in the third quarter, the Cardinals responded with four-goal run to staunch the IC momentum midway through the third. Ithaca never closed within striking distance again throughout regulation, as Fisher kept the margin to at least three goals for the duration.
 
For much of the day, the attack looked to be in midseason form for the Bombers, as the squad was able to scratch 13 goals against a nationally-ranked Cardinals outfit entering the season with significant hype. Leading the way were a trio of IC players who finished the day with four-point outings. Senior attacker Ryan Ozsvath netted four goals to pace IC, while first-year midfielder Jake Erickson also netted a hat trick with three goals and one helper. Sophomore midfielder Drew Turner was the other IC player to finish with four points, scoring twice and adding two assists. Sophomore Jae Stuhlman kicked off his second collegiate season with a two-point outing with one goal and one assist. Rounding out the scoring for Ithaca were juniors Dillon Fitzpatrick, Connor Brumfield and Connor Till who each tallied one goal on the day. Chipping in one point each on assists were junior Kyle Johnson and sophomore Willy Wright.
 
Defensively, it was a tough go for the Bombers against Fisher's dynamic attack. Senior Aaron McCartney got a strong start to his final collegiate season, racking up a team-high four caused turnovers and five ground-balls on the day. Junior Jake Hall-Goldman also had a strong day on the stat-sheet with three caused turnovers and three ground-balls. Seniors Kevin Enos and Sean Seaberg, as well as sophomore Demetri Lowry each added one caused turnover on the day; however, the Cardinals did not find too much trouble in exploiting some gaps in the defensive zone which will look to be tightened moving forward.
 
Senior Robby Atwood got the starting nod in the Ithaca cage. He finished the game with eight saves, but fell to 16-5 as the goalie of record as a starter for his career.
 
Ithaca could not have asked for a better start to the day, as IC captured the opening faceoff and wasted little time with Ozsvath whipping home his first goal of the day from the wing on a nice feed from Kyle Johnson just 23-seconds in. Unfortunately, that was the lone positive vibes from the opening period, as the Cardinals firmly dominated the remainder of the period. Struggles in the faceoff circle were a primary culprit, as Fisher won 9-of-11 draws in the opening frame to dominate the possession battle. Fisher made efficient work with its chances, scoring eight straight goals to blow things open the final score coming with 4:24 still to play in the frame. Ithaca finally stopped the bleeding Stuhlman and Erickson synced up on a nice passing play with 2:27 left to close the deficit to six goals at the first intermission.
 
The Bombers looked much more settled once the second period began and the visitors delivered a counterpunch to the Cardinals opening quarter domination. The first half of the quarter featured no team getting on the scoreboard; however, IC began to see its improved play return some dividends with 6:16 left in the half when Brumfield tickled the twine. On the ensuing possession Fitzpatrick fired home a shot from the wing to halve the deficit at 8-4. Although Fisher's Ian Evans netted another for the Cardinals, Ithaca closed the half with the final three tallies to pull within a pair of goals at the break. Turner got the run going just inside three-minutes to play off a nice pass from Wright. Erickson netted the next two goals, the final one coming with just 19-seconds left before halftime. IC trailed 9-7 at the break.
 
Ithaca's momentum looked to have carried over when play resumed following the break. Turner and Ozsvath both netted their second goals of the day in the opening two-minutes, briefly closing the margin to 10-9 with 13:06 left in the third. Unfortunately, that was as close as IC would get through the remainder of the day. The Cardinal rattled off a four-goal run of their own to again take control. Evans sparked the run for the hosts with the first two goals of the sequence. Ozsvath and Erickson added goals during the back-half of the third, but IC would trail 15-11 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Till got Ithaca back within three goals with 8:58 left to play in the fourth, sending home a snap-shot for his first tally of the day. However, a three-goal response from the Cardinals over a 43-second span immediately following the Till goal effectively sealed matters for the hosts. Ozsvath closed out the scoring on the day with a man-up score with 4:10 remaining, but by that point was deficit was too large to overcome in the waning minutes.
 
Ithaca will be back in action on Tuesday, February 25, when the Bombers welcome Lycoming to Higgins Stadium for their 2020 home opener at 4:00 p.m.