The No. 20 Ithaca College men’s lacrosse team’s 14-9 win against the No. 19 Skidmore College Thoroughbreds on April 25 at Higgins Stadium officially locked the Bombers in as the top seed in the Liberty League playoffs. The senior day celebration game marked the end of the regular season, finishing off with a 11-5 overall record and a 5-1 conference record.
Before the opening faceoff, the Bombers held a ceremony to commemorate 13 senior members of the team: defensemen Chris Closuit and Jace Dockx, attackers Brendan Occhino and Tim Rogers, midfielders Andrew Benjamin, Jack Chaney, Cullen Adams, Max Warn, Drew Warren, Sam Baker and Greg Szyluk, attacker/midfielder Jared Borkan and goalkeeper Andrew Minard.
“We have such a special group, such a special team, and a victory like that is just gritty,” Minard said. “That’s [all] what we could imagine for our senior day. We had such a great alumni showing [and] parents showing, so [I’m] definitely grateful and thankful for this team.”
Minard made 17 saves and allowed just nine goals from passing the pipes, marking his 2026 season–best performance and tied for his second career–best.
The Skidmore attack game showed up early with lots of low angle shots, then beginning to show more inverts and hands–free looks, according to Minard. Regardless, he said he was able to adjust throughout the game and stay consistent.
“We prepared this whole week for them,” Minard said. “[The win] was honestly just trusting our preparation and going out there and competing.”
Despite the rain on South Hill, the Bombers’ offense looked explosive in the second quarter, accounting for six out of their 14 goals scored.
Less than three minutes left until halftime, junior midfielder Will Kleine fought through a double–team matchup to get the ball safe with a teammate. Junior midfielder Ethan Adrid jogged from the left sideline looking for shooting space and subtly beat the Skidmore defender. The Thoroughbreds’ defender covering Adams abandoned his assignment to cover Adrid, leaving Adams with an open lane right to the goal. Adrid, about to be hit hard by the defender coming in hot, reacted quickly by passing the ball to Adams, who then swung his stick around his shoulder and delivered a power shot in the back of the net.
Adams and Adrid tallied two goals apiece, while Kleine, Occhino and Rogers left Higgins Stadium for the last time in the regular season with a hat trick each. Kleine and Adrid each contributed toward five points in the matchup.
With the win, the Bombers will get a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Their next matchup is slated for May 1 at Higgins Stadium, against the winner of Skidmore and Union College’s fourth and fifth seed game.
“We have to fix up things internally first and then work on scouting the next team,” Minard said. “Whoever we get on Friday, we’re going to give it our all.”
