ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 17 nationally ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team earned the top seed in the Liberty League Championship for the first time in program history and will begin its title run with a semifinal matchup against fourth-seeded Union College on Friday at 4 p.m.
GAME COVERAGE:
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LIBERTY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP INFO: The Liberty League Men's Lacrosse Championship features the top five teams from the regular season. Union advanced to the semifinals with a 13-9 victory over Skidmore in the opening round. In the other semifinal matchup, third-seeded RIT will face second-seeded St. Lawrence.
Ithaca enters the postseason in pursuit of its first Liberty League Championship, while RIT has established itself as the league's dominant program, having captured four of the past five titles.
ITHACA VS. UNION: The Bombers will face Union for the second time this season after edging the Garnet Chargers, 9-8, on the road on March 28. Ithaca has won each of the last two meetings in the series, but Union holds an 8-4 all-time advantage dating back to the 2008 season.
Lucas Proctor and
Tim Rogers led the way for the Bombers in their 9-8 regular season win with two goals each, while
Andrew Minard made nine saves in goal.
SCOUTING ITHACA: Ithaca checks in No. 17 in the USILA Top‑25 Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the Inside Lacrosse Top‑25 Poll and are coming off a 14-9 win over No. 19 Skidmore on Senior Day. The Bombers have won six of their last seven contests, with their lone loss coming to (RV) Cortland on Apr. 15. Senior
Tim Rogers leads a balanced Bomber attack with 50 points coming off 40 goals and 10 assists. Both
Brendan Occhino (47 points) and
Will Kleine (44 points) are keys to Ithaca's offense to flank Rogers.
At the faceoff X, sophomore
Liam Alberti has a Liberty League-best faceoff percentage of 66.8 percent, picking up 124 ground balls this year, which also leads the conference.
Jace Dockx's 20 caused turnovers are a team-best, as he is one of four Bombers to tally double-digit CTs this season (
Max Warn,
Corey White,
Greg Szyluk).
In goal,
Andrew Minard has been solid all season long, making 166 saves and boasting a save percentage of 53%. He's recorded double digit save totals in three-straight games entering the postseason.
SCOUTING UNION: Winners of two-straight, Union defeated (RV) Skidmore in the Liberty League First Round on Tuesday, 13-9. First year attackman Garrett Salit paced the Garnet Chargers with five goals and two assists to lead all players in a seven-point performance. Salit's 59 points are the second-most on the squad, behind Walker Popko's 63 points (45 goals, 18 assists). Salit leads Union with 28 assists this year, while the defense is headlined by John Sula's 25 caused turnovers and 84 ground balls.
Luke Tranter was 20-of-26 at the X, picking up six ground balls and setting the tone for Union. Tranter leads all Liberty League players with 231 faceoff wins this season and has won 56.6 percent of his draws on the year while ranking fifth with 97 ground balls.
Union's 2026 regular-season opponents had a combined winning percentage of .633 (157-91), ranking as the 13th-toughest schedule in Division III this season. Nick Lynch has started all 17 games in goal for the Garnet Chargers where he has a 10.58 goals against average.
