The Ithaca College men’s lacrosse team dropped its second home game of the season 13–4 on March 6 to Nazareth College at Higgins Stadium.
The game started off with heavy fog, as both teams tried to focus on tracking the ball in a low-visibility environment. What appeared to be the opening goal for the Bombers was called back for a crease violation, the Golden Flyers took advantage and got the day started with a goal from sophomore attacker Kyle Rosenberger. Both defenses settled in and the game began to slow down until Golden Flyers’ sophomore midfielder William Meagher put another shot in the back of the net in the final moments of the first quarter to give his Golden Flyers squad a 2–0 lead.
The second quarter started off with a bang as Golden Flyers’ sophomore attacker William O’Neill dished the ball behind his back to sophomore midfielder Louis Cogliandro for an easy finish on the Bombers’ crease. The Bombers, finally showing signs of life, made a defensive stand while a man down and capitalized on the other end. Junior attack/midfielder Jack Pastore connected with senior midfielder Derek Stout for the first Bombers goal of the day. The Golden Flyers promptly responded with a three-goal run of their own, including another one from Meagher to close the half up 6–1.
The Bombers started the third quarter one man up and five goals down but the South Hill squad’s attack line forced a Golden Flyers turnover off the ride, leading to an opportunity for junior midfielder Graham Brady to sting the top corner and dig into their deficit.
Not to be outdone, Cogliandro pulled off the highlight of the day by grabbing his own rebound before burying his second attempt over his head. Golden Flyers sophomore attacker Matthew Farrington kept the mixtape rolling with a quick shovel pass over to senior attacker Quinn McKercher to keep the foot squarely on the gas. The Bombers continued to give up goals, including one to first-year midfielder Anthony Menickelli, to increase the deficit to 11–2 to end the third quarter.
The final quarter saw the fog give way to rain, with the wet sticks and wet turf leading to significant decreases in accuracy and traction. Senior attacker Charlie Niebuhr and sophomore midfielder Sam Baker both managed to score, but it was too little and too late as the Golden Flyers killed the clock and walked off of Higgins Stadium with the victory.
The Bombers failed to possess the ball all game, committing 17 turnovers on the day. The team also failed to capitalize on the opportunities it created, with only 17 of 36 shots being on goal.
Despite the poor conditions, head coach Tommy Pearce said he does not accept the weather as an out for the team.
“We’ve played four games and three of them were in rain,” Pearce said. “So we should be fairly accustomed to it. The weather isn’t an excuse, because both teams were playing in it.”
The Bombers have an opportunity to bounce back on March 9 against the University of Scranton. Pearce said he knows what his team needs to focus on in order to get back on track.
“I thought we generated some really good shots early and didn’t capitalize,” Pearce said. “So I’m a little disappointed in how we shot the ball, I think that could have made a big difference … we just kept giving them the ball back and sometimes the most important thing is just to get the ball to the other end of the field for a little bit. So we talked about that and that’s something we always need to work on. That’s how lacrosse works, if the other team has the ball over and over again, they’re gonna score, so you gotta go the other way.”
The Bombers will next host the University of Scranton at 1 p.m. March 9 at Higgins Stadium.
