ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's soccer team dropped its first Liberty League contest of the season to move to 1-1-5 in conference play, 8-2-7 overall with a 1-0 loss to Rochester Institute of Technology on Wednesday at Butterfield Stadium.
RIT's Idriss Diallo scored the only goal of the match at 13:09, his second of the season, beating two defenders off the dribble before finishing past
Brayden Milbrandt.
The Bombers responded with a corner kick at 14:00, and
Maddox Ward came close at 22:12 when his shot hit the right post. Milbrandt kept the deficit at one, denying RIT's Gavin Culley at 24:43 and Axel Jackson at 35:39.
Noah Partenza and
Anthony Cocca each sent a shot high late in the half as RIT took a 1-0 lead into intermission with a 6-4 edge in shots.
Ithaca pushed for the equalizer in the second half, earning six corner kicks and taking seven shots.
CJ Abbott sent a shot wide left at 49:52, and
Liam Breslin followed with an attempt at 54:58. Milbrandt then made three consecutive stops, denying Culley at 60:08, Robin Giesing at 61:18, and Eoin Stansfield twice in five seconds at 68:00 and 68:05.
Cameron Wooten recorded Ithaca's only shot on goal at 72:07, but RIT goalkeeper Kristian Dobbek made the save.
Gabriel Robinson sent shots just over the crossbar at 73:34 and 79:58.
The Bombers came closest late when Breslin's shot hit the right post at 85:00, followed by corner kicks at 85:10 and 85:40. RIT's Stansfield received a red card at 87:36, leaving the Tigers shorthanded for the final minutes, but Ithaca could not capitalize, despite a offensive late push.
RIT outshot Ithaca, 14-11, and held a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal, while the Bombers led in corner kicks, 7-3. Breslin and Robinson each recorded two shots for Ithaca. Milbrandt made six saves, while Dobbek made one for RIT.
Ithaca travels to Clarkson University on Saturday, Oct. 24, for a 3 p.m. Liberty League match in Potsdam, N.Y.
