SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Ithaca College broke open a two-goal game with nine straight second half goals to down Skidmore College 17-5 in the Liberty League men's lacrosse opener for both teams.
 
The loss snaps a three-game win streak for the 3-2 Thoroughbreds. It was the first ever Liberty League game for the 3-0 Bombers.
 
Eric Megnia had two goals and an assist to pace Skidmore. Brendan Halloran had two goals and Jason Shlonsky had a goal and an assist.  Alex Miller contributed six caused turnovers and five ground balls, while Alex Towey had six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
 
For Ithaca, Ryan Ozsvath and Connor Crosson had four goals and an assist each and Jason Della Puca added three goals and an assist. Steven Landspurg won 16 of 25 face offs (8 of 9 in the fourth quarter) and had 10 ground balls.
 
Skidmore took advantage of an early Ithaca turnover to go up 1-0 on Megnia's 13th goal of the season from Shlonsky at 13:19. The Bombers scored the next four goals to go up 4-1 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Megnia cut it to 4-2 with his second of the game from Jack Curry at 9:54 of the second. The Thoroughbred defense kept Ithaca in check until Della Puca found the net with 2:16 left in the half for a 5-2 lead.
 
Halloran made it a two-goal game, 5-3, with his 11th of the season from RJ Caruso at 12:25 of the third.  The Bombers responded with nine straight goals over the rest of the third and into the fourth quarter for a 14-3 lead. Ozsvath had four of the goals, including three straight in a 1:27 span of the fourth quarter.
 
Ithaca had a 54-31 shot and 45-37 ground ball advantage.
 
Chris Baughan had a season-high 18 saves (13 in the first half) in net over 49:27 for the Thoroughbreds. Tim Rahill had two saves over the final 10:33. Bobby Atwood stopped 14 shots for Ithaca, including six in the third quarter.
 
Skidmore heads to Virginia Beach to take on Stevens on March 13 at 7 p.m. before returning home March 17 for a 3 p.m. Liberty League match-up with Clarkson.