ITHACA, N.Y. — Attackman
John Sramac scored the game-winning goal to push the Ithaca College men's lacrosse team past the SUNY Geneseo Knights in a double overtime thriller, winning 13–12.
The Ithaca offense was led by a trifecta of Bombers recording hat tricks from Sramac, attackman
Jake Erickson, and midfielder
Drew Turner. The Bombers also got goals from midfielders
Jared Sedlock,
Kyle Savery,
Derek Stout, and
Andrew Tinnesz. Additionally, Erickson recorded two assists, while Turner and attackman/midfielder
Jack Pastore recorded one each as well. Goalkeeper
Ryan LaForty was in net for the Bombers and made 14 saves on 26 shots on goal.
The Knights would strike first with two goals in the first half of the first quarter from William McCumiskey and Brady Sullivan, the latter finishing with five goals in the game. However, the Bombers offense got going with five minutes left after Laforty made a stop at one end, and Erickson quickly got Ithaca on the board at the other end. Turner tied the game at two goals each with under four minutes left, and Stout put the Bombers ahead with just over a minute to go in the quarter.
Ithaca would be man-up just 11 seconds into the second quarter, and Savery cashed in on the advantage to keep the Bombers run going. The Ithaca defense continued to stymie the Geneseo offense, as clears would turn to goals, and Erickson extended the Bombers lead to three with 12 minutes left in the half. Sramac capped off the 6–0 run with his first goal of the afternoon with 10 minutes, propelling the Bombers to go up 6–2. Geneseo would get its own man-up opportunity after defenseman
Demetri Lowry got called for pushing, and Reese Gerlach got the Knights back on the board. Sullivan would score to make it 6–4 with four minutes before halftime, but Turner got the goal right back under a minute later. Right before the half, the Knights would trim their deficit to two off a Joe Luconte goal, and the score would be 7–5.
The second half started with both teams causing turnovers and trading chances, but Sramac would not be stopped with 11 minutes left, getting an assist from Erickson. The Bombers kept up the pressure, with Erickson scoring three minutes later off an assist from Pastore. A pair of Knights goals brought their deficit back to two, followed by Turner and Sullivan trading goals to make the score 10–8.
In the final frame of regulation, the Knights controlled most of the action from the start, winning the first three faceoffs and scoring three goals in the first six minutes of the quarter. Erickson and Turner had chances to tie the game that wouldn't go, and the Knights extended their lead to 12–10 with under five minutes left. However, the Bombers weren't going to go quietly. Tinnesz stopped the Knights run with a goal at the 2:42 mark, and Sedlock scored the tying goal with 11 seconds left on the clock to force overtime.
The extra period started with a Knights faceoff win followed by Sedlock forcing a turnover, but Turner and Proctor couldn't find the back of the net with their shots. The Bombers got some luck on the other end with the Knights hitting the post on a shot, and LaForty made a stop with 16 seconds left to force double overtime. The Bombers won the opening faceoff of the second overtime period, and with 2:33 left, Sramac dodged from behind the net and beat the goalkeeper in tight, winning the game for the Bombers by the score of 13–12.
Each team had 42 shots, with the Knights putting 26 on goal to the Bombers' 21. Turnovers were 19–20 in the Bombers favor, and ground balls and faceoffs were both even. The Bombers have won three straight games against the Knights and are 3–0 against them in games decided in overtime, including 2–0 in double overtime games.
Ithaca improves to 2–0 and will travel to Rochester, New York to play Nazareth College at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8.
