The Ithaca College men’s lacrosse team picked up a massive Liberty League victory against the Union College Garnet Chargers on April 5 at Higgins Stadium. This is the squad’s second conference win of the season, pushing through rain and wind for a 10-5 victory.
Heading into this matchup, the Garnet Chargers had a target on their backs. The Bombers were 2-8 all-time against the Garnet Chargers heading into the afternoon, their last victory being in 2021.
This game meant more than just recording a victory against a conference rival. The Bombers dedicated this win to Craig Sherbinski. Sherbinski was a sophomore on the 1995 team, who tragically passed away during a team spring break trip. The game was played in honor of Sherbinski 30 years after his passing, and many alumni came back to show their support.
Junior Max Warn, long stick midfielder said it took everything for his squad to beat the Garnet Chargers for the first time in his career.
“We’ve been talking about it all year, we’ve been right there every game,” Warn said. “Today it meant more than just us, it was for the alums, it was for Craig, it was for everyone. So, I think that week of preparation and it being bigger than just us really made it happen.”
The game got off to a back-and-forth competitive start. The Bombers were able to get on the board first with an unassisted goal from sophomore midfielder Jack Giannuzzi. Union fired back with a goal from sophomore midfielder Mekhi Taylor to even the score a little over halfway through the first quarter.
The Bombers dictated the next few minutes, as the energy on the sidelines and the bleachers shifted in favor of the South Hill squad. They saw four unanswered goals, including two from sophomore midfielder Ethan Adrid. No other Bomber scored multiple goals on the day, as nine different players were able to find the back of the net.
Just when things were beginning to slip away from them, the Garnet Chargers found new life. With under six minutes remaining in the first half, senior attacker Peter Kip found the back of the net to make it a 5-2 game. Union sensed an opportunity and called a timeout after it regained possession via a faceoff violation. The timeout proved to be successful as the Garnet Chargers immediately struck, making it a two-goal game.
Union regained possession following this goal and were it not for a great save by Bombers’ junior goalie Andrew Minard, it would have been another quick score for the opposition. Minard did not hesitate, sensing the momentum shifting, he immediately went on the attack, finding Warn upfield.
Warn contorted his body to the side, demonstrating great control for a long stick player. He wrapped his stick around a pack of Union defenders and the seemingly Hail Mary shot found the back of the net. His teammates swarmed him on the field and the sideline erupted as they celebrated his first career goal.
“I was kind of going slow through the motions on that one,” Warn said. “Our captain [senior midfielder Jared Sedlock] looked at me and he was pretty much telling me to pick it up and get past them. And one of my best buddies [Minard] was the goalie, and he assisted me so that was pretty cool, too.”
The score remained 6-3 heading into the second half. Ithaca struck first in the third with a goal from senior attacker Kyle Proctor. The Bombers controlled possession for the following few minutes. They had multiple shots on goal, but sophomore goalie Nick Lynch did an excellent job keeping Union in the game. He had 11 total saves on the afternoon, four of which came in the third.
After a Garnet Chargers goal from senior attacker Archie McEvoy with 6:22 remaining in the third, the Bombers kept the opposition off the scoreboard for the remainder of the contest. A late goal by junior attacker Tim Rogers crushed any thoughts of a comeback as the Bombers now had an insurmountable 10-5 lead. When the clock hit zeros, the emotional significance of this victory could be felt throughout Higgins Stadium, as fired-up players jumped around and hugged each other.
“We’ve had a couple rough seasons, and we all got together at the start of the year and we talked about our goals and how we want to turn this thing around,” Warn said. “[Head coach Tommy Pearce] was like, ‘Hey guys, you can lose eight games out of conference and if you still pick up three or four in-conference you guys are making the [Liberty League] tournament and you can make a push for the NCAAs.’”
The Bombers are now 8-4 overall on the season and have a crucial Liberty League battle at 7 p.m April 5 in Rochester, NY, as they take on the No. 3 Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers.
