The Ithaca College men’s lacrosse team extended its home winning streak to five games, dismantling the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles 25-6 March 19. This was the teams’ first matchup since 1980, when the Bombers won 23-11. Junior attacker Brendan Occhino had the best game in his career as a Bomber, scoring a career-high ten points for the Bombers.

The first quarter was all Bombers because Occhino opened the game and made it 1-0 after just over a minute of play. Soon after, senior attacker Kyle Proctor scored back-to-back goals, with senior midfielder Graham Brady topping the early 4-0 run. Graduate student midfielder Jacob Stine of the Golden Eagles responded with his first goal of the year.

The Bombers’ offense refused to settle. Graduate student midfielder Kyle Savery scored two in a row to widen the lead to 6-1. Kyle Proctor ripped his third one past the Golden Eagles’ senior goalkeeper Jack Acker to make it 7-1.

The offensive onslaught continued In the second quarter, Occhino got a hat trick, ripping his second goal past Acker. However, Brockport finally found an answer as sophomore attacker Marc Zappulla cut the lead from eight to seven goals halfway through the second frame.

Sophomore attacker/midfielder Lucas Proctor shot one through the net, as well. Kyle Proctor responded with his fourth of the evening to make it 11-2. The Bombers’ offense continued to dominate the rest of the first half, leaving Higgins Stadium up 14-2 with a whole second half to play.

The South Hill squad dominated all offensive statistics in the first half, with the Bombers recording 22 shots on goal to the Golden Eagles’ four. The Bombers also recorded 32 total shots in the first half, with the Golden Eagles only having nine.

Head coach Tommy Pearce said the Bombers made the necessary adjustments on offense to score more goals after struggling to find the net in a narrow 6-5 victory over Stockton University on March 15.

“We didn’t have our best offensive day [March 15],” Pearce said. “We spent some time on it, and we challenged those guys to respond a little after a bad game. I think they did.”

The second half saw the Bombers continuing to dominate on offense. Occhino scored four for the Bombers, recording his third, fourth, fifth and sixth goals. Lucas Proctor earned himself a hat trick, scoring another goal to make it 20-5 Bombers.

A pair of goals for the Bombers and a goal for the Golden Eagles made it 22-6 as the fourth quarter was underway. The sun was nowhere to be found at this point in the game, and neither were the Bombers starters.

The Bombers scored three more goals to finish the game off with a 25-6 victory, including another Occhino goal.

Pearce said Occhino was filling in for an injured junior attacker Tim Rogers, and he said he was impressed with his performance.

“Rogers got hurt early [March 15], and we were trying to make sure we were putting the best guy in there,” Pearce said. “[Occhino] stepped up and made the most of his opportunity, so I thought he played great.”

As the Bombers look ahead to Vassar College Brewers on March 22, they look to correct the mistakes of last year’s conference play. The Bombers were 1-6 in Liberty League Championship Tournament competition, and Pearce is looking to right those wrongs this year.

“Our conference is one of the best in the country, so the games are [going to] be a little tougher,” Pearce said. “When we played Vassar last year, it was like a monsoon. It was a really tough game, so hopefully we’ll get some better weather and play a little better against them this year, but that’s certainly our ambition.”

The Bombers will look to seek revenge against the Brewers at 2 p.m. March 22 at Higgins Stadium.