ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team got back in the win column Saturday afternoon against the previously 7–0 Clarkson University Golden Knights to improve to 4–1.
 
On offense, the Bombers were led by John Sramac with four goals, and Charlie Niebuhr with a pair as well. Ithaca also got goals from Jake Erickson, Andrew Tinnesz, Drew Turner, Jack Pastore, and Connor Brumfield. On the opposite side of the field, the defense was led by Ryan LaForty in net, who made nine saves and recorded a .529 save percentage. Hunter Wallace led the team in ground balls and caused turnovers, picking up six and forcing five. In the faceoff circle, Chase Gulick had a positive day, winning 11 of his 21 draws.
 
The Golden Knights were able to get on the board first just two minutes into play after Bryan Penney found the back of the net with Clarkson's second shot of the game. However, after a quick start, both teams settled in defensively and shut down the opposing offense for the next eight minutes. After Clarkson took a penalty with six minutes left, Graham Brady found an open Sramac for the tying goal on the man-advantage. 40 seconds later, it was Turner who found Sramac this time for the go-ahead goal. The Golden Knights would answer right back with the tying goal at four minutes from Andrew Kearney. With a minute and half left in the first, Tyler Hall put Clarkson ahead to end the first quarter in the lead 3–2.
 
In the beginning of the second, the Bombers were man-down for three minutes. Clarkson cashed in thirty seconds in after Penney put the Golden Knights up two. The Bombers had an answer though, as Tinnesz would score off an Erickson assist, and Pastore tied the game at four with seven minutes left. The Golden Knights responded with two goals of their own, with Penney completing a hat trick and Christian Canino. Down 6–4 with two minutes left, Sramac scored his third of the game to cut the deficit to one. Right before the halftime buzzer, Ithaca took a timeout in the final minute and was able to tie the game up with 11 seconds left off a goal from Niebuhr.
 
The second half began with Clarkson getting an early goal from Penney less than two minutes in to give Clarkson the lead. Similar to the first quarter, goals were difficult to come by, as there wouldn't be another score for eight minutes after Penney's tally. The Bombers got the tying goal from Sramac on an assist from Savery while on the man-advantage, but both teams would be unable to score for the next six minutes. In the waning seconds of the quarter, the Kearney turned it over in the offensive zone and the the Bombers quickly cleared it and went up field, leaving just two seconds on the clock after Erickson scored to give the Bombers their first lead of the day and head into the fourth quarter with an 8–7 lead.
 
This time, it was Ithaca having the quick goal to start the period, as Brumfield scored just 39 seconds in after Gulick won the faceoff for the Bombers. Demetri Lowry forced a pair of turnovers on the Golden Knights next two possessions before Niebuhr scored again, this time on the man-advantage, to give the Bombers a 10–7 lead with nine minutes left. Adding on to the lead, Proctor found an open Turner for a goal with 7:24 left in the game. Holding on to the lead, LaForty made a couple of key saves to keep the Bombers up four goals, but Sam Mancabelli scored with two minutes left to trim the lead down to three. The Golden Knights wouldn't be able to get any closer though, after one last shot was stopped by LaForty and cleared, securing an 11–8 win for the Bombers.
 
The Bombers had a large advantage in shots, 37–24, but shots on goal was closer but still favored Ithaca, 20–17. The South Hill Squad picked up 28 ground balls to the Golden Knights 20 and forced 11 turnovers to Clarkson's four. The Bombers were also the more disciplined team, taking just one penalty while the Golden Knights took five.
 
The Bombers opened up Liberty League play 1–0 with the win and return to Higgins Stadium at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29 against Misericordia University in a non-conference matchup.