CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team brought the No. 18 ranked Cortland to double overtime, but the Red Dragons ultimately prevailed winning 11-10. The non-conference loss drops Ithaca to 8-7 overall while Cortland improves to 13-2.
The game began with
Chris Sohl successfully winning the faceoff and taking a quick shot, initiating offensive pressure from the Bombers. Early defensive stances, including ground ball pick-ups from
PJ Roth and
Jared Sedlock, granted IC ample opportunities to challenge Cortland's defense. Both goalkeepers made strong opening impressions with a pair of possession saves within the first five minutes of the match. Sean Kavanagh fired a shot that went high, but the possession was retained. Kavanagh then assisted on Lima Burns' 15th goal of the season at the 7:55 mark of the first quarter. The Bombers couldn't capitalize on the ensuing faceoff win by
Chris Sohl, and after another three minutes of play, Kavanagh assisted on another Burns goal, putting Cortland up 2-0 with 5:22 left in the first quarter. After a great clear and offensive set,
Graham Brady ripped a shot high, and
Lucas Proctor saw his next shot attempt saved by Travis Wagner. Sam Rothman scored after a pass from Cadem Yancey.
Trailing 3-0, the connection between Lucas and
Kyle Proctor struck gold, with Lucas assisting on his brother's 18th goal of the season, netted with 24 seconds left in the period. The Bombers reduced the deficit to one when
Jack Pastore found the back of the net, but Sam Burns completed his first-half hat trick, making it 4-2 in favor of the Red Dragons. Cortland scored again, but Ithaca won the faceoff and responded with a man-up goal netted by
Tim Rogers. However, Cortland extended its lead to 6-3 when Klay Stuver found the back of the net after an
Andrew Minard save. Right before the halftime break and a
Tommy Pearce timeout,
Cullen Adams made it 6-4.
Ithaca came out firing, and
Cullen Adams again found the back of the net, making it 6-5 on the opening possession of the third quarter. The Bombers came up big with a shot clock violation, and in transition,
Greg Szyluk tied it up at six goals apiece with 11:22 left in the third. The score remained deadlocked as Ithaca ended up outscoring Cortland 2-0 in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter opened with another slick save from
Andrew Minard eight seconds in, and again the Bombers made the most of a man-up chance with
Kyle Savery assisting on a goal from
Ethan Adrid, who rifled it into the upper corner. Ryan Scanlon cut in front of the net and converted with 13:17 left, tying it again at 7-7. The Bombers were unlucky when Scanlon picked up a groundball off a rebound and fired it past Minard with 9:42 remaining. IC again found an immediate response with
Lucas Proctor feeding
Ethan Adrid, tying it up 8-8 by sneaking it past Travis Wagner.
After a successful clear, Cortland's Klay Stuver evaded the Bombers' defense and made it 9-8. Ithaca again drew a penalty, and for the third time, they made the most of the man-up opportunity, tying it with a
Lucas Proctor goal with 5:02 left. With 2:41 left, the Bombers were unable to kill off a penalty with Sam Rothman scoring a man-up goal. Coach Pearce called timeout with 2:17 left and
Cullen Adams fired a shot wide out of the break in action. Adams fired wide left with under a minute left and
Lucas Proctor came up clutch to tie up at 10-10 with just 44 seconds left. Cortland's Sam Rothman tried to win it before the buzzer but his bounce shot sailed high.
The Red Dragons made a solid defensive stand when Travis Wagner stood tall denying Adams.
Jack Pastore would rip a shot with 22 left in the frame but was again denied by Wagner.
Andrew Minard made another great save to begin the second overtime and the Red Dragons called a timeout with 2:04 remaining. Stuver's shot out of the break was high and with Cortland closest to it Ryan Scanlon netted the double overtime winner at the 1:39 mark for the 11-10 final.
Andrew Minard was a standout in tonight's game with a total of 13 saves, two of which were clutch in overtime.
Lucas Proctor,
Cullen Adams, and
Ethan Adrid led the offense with two goals apiece.
Lucas Proctor also added 3 assists, and Adrid dished out another. The Bombers dominated at the faceoff, with
Chris Sohl going 9-for-12,
Corey White going 5-for-7, and Chase Gullick going 3-for-6.
The Bombers return to Ithaca to play Clarkson on their Senior Day for their second to last Liberty League matchup on Saturday, April 19th at 1:00 PM at Higgins Stadium
