ITHACA, NY – The No. 19 Skidmore College men's lacrosse team is headed back to the Liberty League playoffs despite a 14-9 road setback at No. 20 Ithaca in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale.
The Thoroughbreds (10-5, 3-4 Liberty League) jumped out to an early 3-2 lead after the first quarter and finished with advantages in shots on goal (26-21), turnovers forced (23-22), and ground balls (40-33). However, a game-high 17 saves by the Bombers (11-5, 6-1 Liberty League) helped limit the Skidmore offense to just four goals over the final 38 minutes.
Despite the loss, Skidmore secured its second consecutive postseason berth after Union's win over Clarkson locked up the fifth and final playoff spot.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Senior Caleb Lawson opened the scoring with a solo goal at the 10:17 mark of the first quarter.
- After the Bombers answered with consecutive goals in a 37-second span to take a 2-1 lead with 5:04 remaining, Skidmore closed out the quarter with a pair of first-year goals by Joseph Killcommons and Ollie Rice to regain a 3-2 advantage.
- Early in the second quarter, Ithaca again scored back-to-back goals in the opening minutes to regain the lead with 11:17 remaining. Killcommons and fellow first-year Conor Geier responded with a pair of goals to give Skidmore a 5-4 lead at the 8:07 mark.
- However, Ithaca closed the half with four unanswered goals to take an 8-5 lead into intermission.
- Skidmore opened the second half with two of the first three goals, as freshman Wilder Finkel and sophomore Michael Aiello found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 9-7 with 7:25 left in the third quarter.
- Ithaca controlled the remainder of the game, scoring five of the final seven goals to hold off the Thoroughbreds' comeback and pull away for the victory.
- In the fourth, Geier and Aiello each scored Skidmore's lone goals of the period.
STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS
- Aiello and Geier each tallied two goals with one assist.
- Killcommons finished with two goals, two groundballs and two caused turnovers.
- Junior Ethan Dicturel forced a game-high five turnovers with four groundballs.
- Sophomore Michael Dearborn tallied four groundballs with three caused turnovers.
UP NEXT
The fifth-seeded Thoroughbreds are set to take on fourth-seeded Union in a Liberty League First Round road matchup. The start time is yet to be announced.
