It was a day of relief and gratification at Upper Terrace Field on Sunday afternoon, as the men’s lacrosse team secured its first Empire 8 championship since 2002, defeating the Rochester Institute of Technology 12–9.

The win was the culmination of a dominating season for the Bombers, who finish the regular season with an overall record of 15–2 and a 7–1 Empire 8 mark. Ithaca’s two losses both came in overtime.

After the Blue and Gold started the season with eight straight wins, including an overtime win against rival SUNY-Cortland on March 22, they traveled to RIT for what should’ve been an easy victory.

“They were our first loss,” senior midfielder Craig Lepiane said. “After that, people thought we were overrated.”

Playing in that type of atmosphere, where everyone is rooting to knock off the favorite, makes revenge later in the season that much more gratifying. The Bombers had two overtime losses this season — one on the road and one at home. While these losses may have hurt Ithaca’s national ranking, the team said it helped more than most people realized.

“We wouldn’t have pushed ourselves in practice as much [if we didn’t lose],” senior  attack Logan Bobzien said.

The phrase “good loss” doesn’t usually carry much weight behind it, but the Bombers used those losses to their advantage this season.

“The losses were good for us,” junior defenseman Neth Wiedemann said. “They got us to refocus.”

After their second loss, the Bombers set a goal of winning every game for the rest of the season. That sharper focus led to success, as the Bombers rebounded from their loss to out-of-conference Union College with five straight wins en route to an Empire 8 title.  

The championship game was also an avenue for revenge, as Ithaca was able to face RIT on their own field this time. The Blue and Gold came out hot, jumping out to a 4–2 lead in the first quarter. RIT stuck with the Bombers though, just as they did a month before.

“Coming in, we knew we had to bring our game for all 60 minutes,” Bobzien said.

This time, the Bombers prevailed, ripping the title away from RIT.

This title game meant the most to the juniors and seniors on the team. For the seniors, it was a matter of leaving a legacy. Two seasons ago, the Bombers had watched an opposing team win the Empire 8 title on their home turf.

“We had all experienced losing on our home field,” said junior goalkeeper Ben Connery, this year’s tournament MVP. “The seniors put the team on their backs.”

Senior Matt Nelligan scored four goals, Bobzien scored four goals and Lepiane scored two. They did need some help from the younger players, however, and Connery took the task to heart.

“I was pretty confident in making those saves,” Connery said. “The defense made it so there were no good shots.”

So instead of leaving behind a losing legacy, the seniors cashed in their first conference title.

The journey will not end there, however. With that title, the Bombers gained an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. In the past, the team has had to wait until selection, held this year on Sunday, to see if they made the field as an at-large selection. This time, the only question is who the team’s opponent will be.

“It’ll be nice not to wait and see if we have a berth,” Wiedemann said.

The selection show will air at 9 p.m. Sunday on CSTV.