POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The No. 18 nationally ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team used a strong first quarter and held on late to earn a hard-fought 12-11 victory on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bombers clinched a spot into the Liberty League Championship tournament and improved to 5-1 which is first in conference and 10-5 overall.
 
Vassar opened the scoring early, sliding the game's first goal past Ithaca goalkeeper Andrew Minard. The Bombers answered at the 6:39 mark of the first quarter when Will Kleine buried a shot on the man-up to tie the game at 1–1. Kleine then set up Cullen Adams, who finished to give Ithaca its first lead. Danny Loss followed with a goal of his own, and Brendan Occhino capped the opening quarter with a tally in the final minute, as the Bombers carried a 4–1 lead into the second.
 
Ithaca continued to apply pressure early in the second quarter when Sam Baker found Occhino for his second goal of the afternoon, pushing the lead to four. Vassar responded with back-to-back goals to cut the margin, but Kleine answered with his second of the game to make it 6–3, Bombers. Occhino completed his hat trick with 4:22 remaining in the half, and although the Brewers added a goal just before the break, Ithaca headed into halftime holding a 7–4 advantage.
 
Vassar came out of the locker room quickly, scoring early in the third quarter to pull within two before continuing the run to knot the game at 7–7 with eight minutes remaining. Ithaca responded once again as Ethan Adrid assisted Occhino, who slipped home his fourth goal of the day to even the score at 8–8. Kleine followed with another finish to give the Bombers the lead, and with just six seconds left in the quarter, Baker found Kleine again to extend Ithaca's advantage to 10–8 heading into the final period.
 
The Brewers refused to go away in the fourth, scoring on the man-up at 10:49 to trim the deficit to one before tying the game at 10–10 less than a minute later. Vassar then briefly took the lead, but Loss answered for Ithaca to even the score at 11–11 with 6:35 remaining.
With the game hanging in the balance, Kleine delivered the decisive moment. With 33 seconds left, the junior midfielder buried the game-winning goal, his fifth of the afternoon, to send the Bombers back to Ithaca with the 12–11 victory. It was also his second game-winner of the season as he tallied the final goal against RPI a week ago.
 
Will Kleine finished the day with a game-high five goals, while Occhino added four goals and Loss chipped in one goal and one assist. Minard made 12 saves in goal as Ithaca improved its Liberty League record with the road win.
 
Next up, No. 18 Ithaca will host No. 15 Skidmore for a Senior Day matchup on Higgins Stadium, slated for 12 p.m. on Saturday.