ITHACA, N.Y. - In a thrilling showdown, the Ithaca men's lacrosse team faced off against the formidable No. 2 nationally ranked RPI Engineers in their Liberty League home opener on a sunny Saturday afternoon on the South Hill. The game kept fans on the edge of their seats until the very end, with the Bombers relentlessly chasing a victory, trailing by just one until the closing moments. Despite their valiant efforts, Ithaca ultimately fell short against RPI, losing by a narrow margin of 10-9. With this loss, their season record now stands at 6-4, dropping to 0-2 in the Liberty League conference.
  
The first three minutes of the first quarter was dominated by the Bombers not allowing the Engineers to have an offensive opportunity. Despite the dominance, Ithaca was unable to capitalize. Finally, after back-and-forth possessions RPI was able to find the back of the net with a sniper of a shot from Tyler Ruffini with 8:42 left. RPI began to gain momentum with another goal with 5:55 left on the clock with a goal from Luke Murphy. Ithaca responded 44 seconds later with a goal from a quick passing sequence between John Sramac and Kyle Proctor, marking Proctor's ninth goal of the season. The Bombers trailed 2-1, however, the Engineers did not let Ithaca gain momentum and scored just over a minute later with a goal from Erik Ojert.
 
With a 3-1 lead RPI had momentum going into the second quarter, putting five shots on goal within the first two minutes. With a break away opportunity with Ithaca only having three defenders back RPI sped down the field with beautiful finish from Ty Stanek right in front of the net. Less than two minutes later RPI tallied on another goal from Murphy to raise their lead to four over the Bombers. RPI continued to control the pace of the game with a goal from Zach Swanson with 7:06 left in the second. Murphy then recorded his third goal of the game off a quick turnaround from an Ithaca offensive opportunity they couldn't finish on. With a buzzer beater shot Proctor tipped in his second goal to bring the score to 7-2 going into halftime.
 
Momentum started to shift in the next 15 minute period, Ithaca was the first on the board in the third quarter with a goal from Sam Baker, his seventh of the season. Three minutes later it was Cullen Adams who found the back of the net for Ithaca who now trailed 7-4. However only 17 seconds later, RPI responded with another goal from Murphy, his fourth of the day. Only minutes later Murphy continued to showcase his skill with his fifth goal of the game bringing the Engineers lead to 9-4. Ithaca remained resilient despite RPI's momentum and answered only 30 seconds later with a goal from Graham Brady. Continuing to shift the momentum Jack Pastore found the back of the net for the Bombers decreasing the Engineers lead to 9-6.
  
This time it would be the Engineers to score first in the fourth after a Bomber turnover. The goal would come from none other than Luke Murphy, his sixth of the game. Yet again Ithaca swiftly answered with Proctor netting his third goal of the game less than a minute later, bringing the score to 10-7 on his hat trick. The Bombers maintained their relentless momentum, as Sramac swiftly found the net twice in the span of two minutes, narrowing Ithaca's deficit to just one point with 5:44 left in the game. Despite a last quarter run Ithaca was unable to tie up the game, falling only 10-9 to the No. 2 RPI Engineers. The Bombers had a chance to equalize in the closing seconds, but Joseph Perry came up huge in his cage stopping a point-blank shot just as time expired to preserve the win.
 
Next up, the Ithaca College will travel to Schenectady, New York Saturday April 6 for a Liberty League matchup against Union College slated for a 12 p.m. start.