ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team stretched its winning streak to four games in thrilling fashion on Saturday afternoon, edging out RPI 11-10 on the sun-splashed Higgins Stadium turf. Deadlocked at 10-10 with under a minute remaining, junior attacker Will Kleine rifled a shot into the upper left corner to put the Bombers back on top 11-10 with just 24-seconds remaining. The Bombers made the game-winner stand up with a smothering defensive effort in the games waning seconds to preserve the victory and maintain IC's momentum down the back half of its Liberty League schedule. The win elevated IC's record to 9-4 on the year and still on top of the Liberty League standings at 4-1.

Kleine finished the game with two goals, while junior attacker Lucas Proctor (2 goals, 2 assists), junior midfielder Ethan Adrid (2 goals, 1 assist), and senior attacker Tim Rogers (2 goals, 2 assists) each tallied a pair of goals for the Bombers. Senior midfielder Cullen Adams, sophomore faceoff man Liam Alberti, and senior attacker Brendan Occhino (1 goal, 1 assist) also found the back of the net for IC. 

Senior goalie Andrew Minard finished with nine saves on the day, while the IC defense clamped down on the Engineers attack down the stretch. Senior Max Warn made the clinching play, forcing his second of two caused turnovers on the day to break up a final look at goal for RPI in the closing seconds. Senior Jace Dockx also finished with two caused turnovers on the day. Junior Corey White, senior Andrew Benjamin, and senior Greg Szyluk each forced an RPI miscue on the afternoon.

It was a fast start to the contest on Saturday with four goals in the opening six minutes of the contest, three of which tallied by the home side. Proctor opened the days scoring with a laser from the right wing, which was answered 1:11 later when RPI attacker Cooper Manzi launched home his first of four goals on the afternoon to level the score at 1-1. Liam Alperti did not wait long to snatch back momentum, winning the ensuing draw and taking it right down the alley, before lacing a shot into the upper right corner to reestablish the Ithaca lead. Adrid added his first of the day on a long shot from the center of the attacking zone to make it 3-1 with 9:20 to play in the first period.

After RPI responded with a pair of goals to again tie the contest back up, Tim Rogers added the first of two man-up tallies for IC on the day to help Ithaca take a 4-3 lead to the end of the first.

The Engineers took their only lead of the day with two early strikes in the second quarter. A man-up tally by RPI's Sean Smith and Manzi's third goal of day just 27-seconds apart lifted the visitors to a 5-4 lead with 11:53 left in the half. However, it was all IC over the second quarter's final 10-minutes. The Bombers went on a four-goal run, which featured goals from Rogers, another man-up tally from Proctor, Kleine, and Cullen to close out the half.

RPI slowly chipped away following the intermission, as IC was stymied by a feisty defensive effort by the Engineers. Three times RPI closed the margin within a goal, but IC protected its advantage for the majority of the half. Finally, the Engineers got back to level terms on a nasty backhand shot from Sean Smith that was a nearly impossible stop with 3:43 to play. The Bombers defense stood tall down the stretch denying a couple attacking opportunities for the Engineers, which included Minard denying Smith of his hat trick bid with 1:12 to play, setting IC's final possession.

After a timeout by the Bombers with 55-seconds left, IC setup the perfect look for Kleine to bury the the game-winner.

The Bombers will return to action on Wednesday, April 15, when they welcome their Route 13 rival SUNY Cortland for a non-league tilt at Higgins Stadium. Opening faceoff with the Red Dragons is slated for 7:00 p.m.