LEWISTON, MAINE – Despite a late quarter push, the No. 18 ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team bowed out of the NCAA Division III Championship tournament on Friday, falling 14-11 to Hope College in a second round matchup.
Hope College struck first, capitalizing on an early Ithaca turnover just two minutes into the game to take a quick 1-0 lead. The Flying Dutchmen added another before the Bombers responded late in the first quarter.
Will Kleine put Ithaca on the board with just under three minutes remaining, and moments later
Danny Loss found the back of the net to even the score at 2-2 with 2:18 left. The game remained tied heading into the second quarter.
Hope regained the lead early in the second, going up 3-2 at the 14:21 mark and extending it to 4-2 with 12:14 remaining in the half. After Hope added its fifth goal, the Bombers began to rally.
Brendan Occhino, assisted by
Sam Baker, cut the deficit to two with 10:06 left, and
Cullen Adams followed with a goal to make it 5-4 at the 8:48 mark.
Ethan Adrid tied the game at 5-5 just under a minute later.
Danny Loss then gave Ithaca its first lead of the game, 6-5, before Adams struck again to push the advantage to 7-5. Hope responded in the closing minutes of the half, halting the Bombers' momentum with a goal at the five-minute mark. The Flying Dutchmen added two more late goals, including a transition score, to take an 8-7 lead into halftime.
Tim Rogers opened the second half by scoring for Ithaca, tying the game at 8-8. However, Hope took control in the third quarter, stringing together a four-goal run to build a 12-8 advantage heading into the final period.
Hope added the first goal of the fourth quarter to extend its lead before
Will Kleine answered quickly for the Bombers, making it 13-9. The Flying Dutchmen pushed their lead to five with 10:04 remaining, but Ithaca continued to battle. Kleine scored again to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 7:30 left, and Adrid added another to bring the Bombers within three.
Despite the late push, Ithaca could not close the gap, falling to Hope College by a final score of 14-11. Kleine finished with three points, netting a team-high three goals and goalkeeper
Andrew Minard finished with 12 saves.
The Bombers conclude the 2026 season with an 11-7 record, the most wins since 2018 and claimed their first regular season Liberty League title in program history.
