TROY, NY – Despite a hard-fought and valiant effort, the Ithaca College men's lacrosse team was defeated by the No. 5 ranked RPI Engineers in a Liberty League matchup with a final score of 11-9. Ithaca drops to 7-4 on the year and 1-1 in conference play, while RPI improves to 9-1 and 1-1 in conference play.
 
The Engineers came out firing first as Evan Whatley scored the opening goal on a flukey bouncer that found the far pipe and beat Andrew Minard. Just a couple of minutes later, Ty Stanek ripped one in transition to double RPI's lead to 2-0. The Bombers settled in defensively, and Lucas Proctor scored to end the first quarter with some momentum, heading into the second frame down by one.
 
The second quarter saw RPI explode offensively. The Engineers were dominant in transition, and some pretty passing plays netted them the next four goals, extending their lead to 6-1. After an Engineer penalty, Tim Rogers found some room and made no mistake, ripping a bouncer past RPI goalie Joe Perry to make it 6-2, scoring the man-up goal. RPI then had an endline possession where they ran multiple off-ball picks, and with three seconds left before halftime, Evan Whatley went behind the back to regain momentum for RPI, with the Engineers leading 7-2 at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, the teams traded goals with Lucas Proctor and Ethan Adrid scoring for the Bombers, and Sean Smith and Erik Ojert scoring for RPI. The score was 9-4 heading into the final stanza.
 
The Bombers played with aggression and outscored RPI 5-2 in the fourth quarter with some incredible shooting. Kyle Savery and Cullen Adams had a couple of rockets that found twine, while Charlie Niebuhr and Kyle Proctor also scored, bringing the final score to 11-9.
 
Lucas Proctor led the way for the Bombers with two goals and two assists, while Evan Whatley had three goals and an assist for RPI.
The Bombers' next game is Saturday, April 5 at 12 p.m. when they face Union College at Higgins Stadium.