POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team powered its way to a 15-7 victory over Vassar College in Liberty League action on Gordon Field Saturday. The Bombers move to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the homestanding Brewers are now 6-5 and 1-3 in the Liberty League.

The visitors opened the game's scoring as sophomore attack Charlie Neibuhr scored the first of his four goals at the 13:02 mark. Vassar retaliated as senior captain Connor Deehan buried a feed from sophomore attack Troy Santise. That tally was followed seconds later with the lead for the Brewers as sophomore midfielder Thomas Cameron won the face-off, darted up the field for a falling down pass to junior attack Riley Olds, who buried it on the fly for the 2-1 lead at 10:59.

Ithaca battled back and regained the advantage as junior attack Jake Erickson scored, followed less than a minute later as rookie attack Kyle Proctor converted a pass from graduate student middie Connor Brumfield for a man-up score and the 3-2 lead with 6:56 to play.

Vassar countered, tying things up at the 4:26 mark as Santise buried a pass from sophomore attack Ian Zumpano, but Erickson responded with a score on a pass from Proctor for the 4-3 lead back to end the opening quarter.

In the second frame, the Brewers netted the equalizer with 7:39 to play as Zumpano scored off a pass from junior midfielder and captain James Nicholas, but three straight goals by the Bombers, including two from Niebuhr, gave the visitors the 7-4 lead heading into halftime.

The Brewers opened the scoring out of the halftime as sophomore attack Dylan MacFarland scored from Zumpano on the man-up. Ithaca sophomore attack John Sramac scored the first of his three goals in the game, but Santise got one back for Vassar, connecting once again on a pass from Zumpano. But that goal would be the last of the frame for the home team as the Bombers netted two more in the third, opening with two in the fourth for a 13-6 margin.

Vassar rookie long stick midfielder Matteo Roman dropped in his third of the season with 8:01 to play, but the Bombers got two more goals to close out the game's scoring for the victory.

Ithaca was paced by a four-goal effort from Niebuhr and Sramac – who also had an assist. Erickson posted three goals with a game-high four assists, while Brumfield added two goals with a helper. Proctor had a goal and an assist, while Eischen had two helpers. In the face-off circle, rookie midfielder Chase Gulick was outstanding, going 17-of-24 from the circle with a game-high 10 ground balls. In goal, junior Ryan LaForty made 11 saves in the victory.

For the Brewers, Santise posted two goals with an assist, while Zumpano had a goal and three helpers. McFarland, Deehan, Roman and Olds each tallied, while Cameron and Nicholas each notched assists. Sophomore defender Solomon Hess had a team-best three ground balls with a caused turnover. In the face-off circle, Cameron was 5-of-13, while sophomore midfielder Ethan Benjamin was 2-of-3 in the circle. In goal, junior Jack Bagin recorded 18 saves, while classmate Aidan Gallagher played 2:12, but made no stops.

Vassar is back in action next weekend, traveling to St. Lawrence on Saturday for a 1pm match against the Saints. Ithaca is in action on Wednesday with a mid-week game at home against RIT at 7pm.