ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team defeated (RV) Union College 10-5 on Saturday afternoon, marking their first victory over the Garnet Chargers since April 2021. The Bombers now hold an 8-4 record for the season and are 2-1 in the Liberty League.
IC opened the scoring early when Jack Gianuzzi drove in and fired one past the keeper. A few minutes later, Mekhi Taylor equalized for the Garnet Chargers, sneaking one through a screen.
Ethan Adrid regained the lead for the Bombers late in the first quarter with a beautiful pass from
Lucas Proctor. Shortly after,
Graham Brady scored, giving the Bombers a 3-1 lead within a two-minute span.
Ithaca continued their momentum just over a minute into the second quarter when
Kyle Savery found twine, assisted by
Lucas Proctor, extending the lead to 4-1. Proctor nearly scored his first goal of the game with a hard shot from the left side, but it was blocked. Two minutes later, Adrid broke through the defense to score his second goal of the game, making it 5-1.
Union nearly scored their second goal halfway through the second quarter, but the Bombers' defense forced Walker Popko to shoot wide. With about six minutes remaining in the half,
Graham Brady drove to the net, forcing the Union keeper Nick Lynch to make a spectacular save.
Peter Kip converted a shot with 5:33 remaining in the half, and Bo Bensley scored 19 seconds later, bringing Union within two.
Max Warn quickly responded for the Bombers with his first goal of the season, a long-stick goal off a fast-break transition, ending the half at 6-3.
In the opening minutes of the second half,
Tim Rogers hit the crossbar with a bullet of a shot. Union also hit the crossbar but collected the rebound groundball and scored, making it 6-4. Two minutes later,
Graham Brady found
Kyle Proctor in open space, regaining the Bombers' three-goal lead at 7-4. The Garnet Chargers struck back with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter, making it 7-5.
Jack Pastore then took matters into his own hands, beating the keeper with a beautiful shot to restore the three-goal lead.
Jared Sedlock raced through the midfield in transition to score his first goal of the season, giving the Bombers a 9-5 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter,
Kyle Proctor executed a spin move on the left side of the goal and sent a shot off the crossbar. The Bombers had a tremendous passing play that resulted in a saved shot from Rogers during a man-up opportunity with 7:41 remaining. Savery then sent a shot off the keeper's foot, resetting the shot clock and allowing the Bombers to run down more time before Rogers scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Gianuzzi.
Ithaca College finished the game with outstanding defense throughout the remainder of the fourth quarter, securing a 10-5 victory.
Andrew Minard notched five saves in the win.
The Bombers' next game is on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against No. 3 RIT on the road in a Liberty League matchup.
