ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team picked up its second-straight victory on Wednesday, edging visiting Nazareth University, 9-8. The Bombers broke the game open with five goals in the third quarter to build an 8-5 lead before holding strong at the final whistle. With the win, IC improves to 2-2 overall, while Nazareth drops to 0-4.
It took the Bombers some time to settle in, as the Golden Flyers netted the game's opening two goals. IC responded late in the first quarter when
Lucas Proctor scored off a feed from
Will Kleine with 1:02 remaining. Nazareth added one more in the closing seconds, as Kyle Rosenberger tallied an unassisted goal to stretch the visitors' advantage to 3-1.
After a successful clear,
Brendan Occhino got on the scoresheet, burying a shot past Sven Habitzreuther in the opening minute of the second quarter. With 2:26 remaining before halftime,
Will Kleine connected with
Tim Rogers in front, and Rogers buried his chance to tie the game at 3-3.
Nazareth once again capitalized in the final moments, as Kyle Rosenberger rang a shot off the post, and following the ensuing restart, Louis Cogliandro scored to send the visitors into the break with a 4-3 lead. Habitzreuther notched six saves in the opening half while
Andrew Minard recorded four as the Golden Flyers tallied 19 first half shots.
The opening five minutes of the third quarter featured fast-paced, back‑and‑forth action, including two ties—the second coming when
Tim Rogers found a streaking
Will Kleine, who this time beat Habitzreuther to level the score. From there, the Bombers seized full control, scoring three straight goals as
Ryan Connolly, Rogers, and
Cullen Adams each found the back of the net, sending IC into the fourth quarter with an 8-5 advantage.
The scoring run continued after Minard denied a Matthew Farrington attempt, allowing Ithaca to clear. On the ensuing possession,
Lucas Proctor found
Ethan Adrid, who stepped into a long‑range shot and buried it to extend the Bombers' lead. Nazareth made things interesting by scoring three straight, with the final goal coming from Kyle Rosenberger with 30 seconds remaining.
Liam Alberti won the ensuing faceoff, but the Bombers were forced into a turnover. After a Golden Flyers timeout, the IC defense held firm in the closing seconds to secure the 9-8 victory.
Alberti finished 9-of-17 in the faceoff X with goalkeeper
Andrew Minard notching a game-high 13 saves. Both
Tim Rogers and
Brendan Occhino finished with two goals apiece.
Next up, Ithaca College will continue its non-conference schedule with a Saturday matchup at Widener University. Game time is slated for 12 p.m.
