Ithaca, N.Y. - The 20th-ranked Ithaca College Men's Lacrosse Team took the field at Higgins Stadium for the first time in 378 days, defeating SUNY Geneseo, 11-10. It was the first game for the Bombers in 375 days since their season was canceled due to COVID. 

How it Happened: The visiting Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 lead just over six minutes into the game. First-year John Sramac scored his first career goal to put Ithaca on the board for the first time this season midway through the first period. Sramac's goal started a 4-0 run for the Bombers. First-year Kyle Savery also netted his first career goal in a Bombers uniform. 

From there, the teams traded goals until Sramac and junior Jae Stuhlman scored the last two goals of the half to give Ithaca an 8-6 halftime lead. Geneseo scored the first goal of the second half on a shot by James Pratt, but Ithaca answered with a three goal run to go up 11-7. 

Geneseo made a fourth quarter push, scoring the last three goals of the game on extra man opportunities and holding the Bombers scoreless for the final thirteen minutes. The Knights had the ball with just over one minute to go, but couldn't muster a good shot and the Bombers defense forced a shot clock violation to take the ball back and run the clock out. 

Game Leaders: The win was a total team effort for the Bombers. Sophomore Jake Erickson netted three goals and had two assists for five points on the day to lead the team. Six other Bombers found the back of the net and five recorded an assist in a balanced offensive attack. 

Defensively, first-year Hunter Wallace led the team with five caused turnovers in his debut and scooped up four ground balls. Senior preseason All-American Jake Hall-Goldman caused four turnovers. Junior Cameron MacNicol won 14 of 22 face-offs and picked up nine ground balls. In net, junior Connor Thornton stopped 10 shots, recording a save percentage of .500.

Next Up: Ithaca will travel to Nazareth on Wednesday, March 24 to take on the Golden Eagles in its second of four non-conference games. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. face-off from Rochester, N.Y.