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ITHACA, N.Y. – The fourth-ranked Ithaca College men's lacrosse team made its home debut at a frigid Higgins Stadium when it welcomed nationally-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to South Hill on Sunday afternoon. The Bombers scored the final six goals to pull away from the 12th-ranked Engineers, scoring a big early non-conference win, 14-9. The victory improves IC's record to 2-0 on the year, while RPI falls to 1-1.
 
Senior attacker Jack Shumway netted six total points for the second consecutive game to start the year, finding the back of the net five times and adding an assist on the eventual game-winning goal by junior attacker Jake Cotton. 
 
Sophomore midfielder Josh Della Puca also perpetuated his strong start with two goals and three assists. Cotton finished with three assists in addition to the game-winning tally.
 
Senior net-minder Jack Deragon made his second consecutive start and performed admirably down the stretch in pushing his record to 2-0 this season. He finished with 11 saves, which included eight during the second half, shutting out the Engineers over the final 20:27 of game action.
 
With temperatures sitting in the low 20s at the start of the contest, it looked as though the cool temps had the Bombers in a deep freeze during the opening moments. RPI took advantage of the slow start to take a 2-0 lead on goals by Lucas Bastarache and Owen Putman during the first 3:29 of action. Sophomore Brendan King broke the ice on the scoreboard for IC at the 10:00 minute mark. Working from the 'X', he swung around the right side of the net and fired a jump shot over the shoulder of RPI keeper David Gibbs to halve the deficit.
 
The Bombers pulled level 1:10 later when junior midfielder Stephen Morrell netted his first of the season. Receiving a pass on the left side of the attacking zone, he ducked under his defensive marker and slipped free across the middle of the zone, before ripping a shot into the twine.
 
The Engineers scored three of the final four goals in the period to take a 5-3 lead through 15 minutes. CJ Kigar scored while RPI was on the man-advantage to break the deadlock with 4:36 left in the first. Jake Weidner and Breanainn McNeally added tallied for the visitors, while Shumway fired home his first of the game.
 
The two sides traded goals to begin the second quarter, as Shumway and McNeally both scored. However, it was the Bombers that controlled things during the waning moments of the first half, scoring three times to take a 7-6 lead to the break.
 
Della Puca tallied his first of the contest to pull IC within a goal with 7:24 left in the frame. Picking off a pass on an RPI clear attempt, he raced the other direction, rifling a running shot into the top corner of the net. Morrell tied the game for the second time with a similar goal to his first of the day to make it 6-6 with 6:09 to go. Junior Kaelan Fitzpatrick lifted Ithaca to its first lead with 1:34 left in the quarter, firing a laser past Gibbs from the top of the eight-yard box.
 
Shumway tacked on another to cap the four-goal run by the Bombers just 1:28 into the third quarter. The senior made a great run and Della Puca hit him with a precise pass between two RPI defenders just three yards in front of the crease. Shumway bested Gibbs low to up the Ithaca advantage to 8-6.
 
The Engineers responded with two goals in a 15-second span with just over 10 left in the quarter. Bastarache netted his second of the contest, while Will Killeen scored right off the ensuing faceoff, picking up a jumbled ball off the restart and launching a bounce shot off the turf that eluded Deragon and nestled just inside the post and crossbar. RPI pulled back ahead with 5:27 left in the third when McNeally secured a hat trick to make it 9-8. The Ithaca defense locked in from there, holding RPI off the board for the remainder of the game.
 
IC scored twice to take a 10-9 lead into the final quarter. On the first, senior long-stick Cody Swing made an excellent individual effort. Forcing a turnover at midfield, he scooped possession and sprinted right down the middle before ripping a shot into the bottom right corner. Cotton scored the game-winner with 2:13 left in the period, working a great one-two passing play with Shumway, the former converted on the close-quarters shot from in close.
 
IC tacked on two early goals in the fourth to widen the gap to 12-9. Shumway netted the first tally 31-seconds into the frame, while Della Puca added his second of the game with 10:21 remaining. Shumway iced the game with his fifth goal of the game with 3:11 left, while sophomore Owen Smith capped the scoring with 1:55 remaining.