ONEONTA, N.Y. – Craig LePiane (Rochester, N.Y.) posted a game-high five goals as sixth-ranked Ithaca overcame a rough beginning en route to posting a come-from-behind 15-11 victory over Hartwick, Saturday afternoon at Wright Stadium.

With the game tied at 6-6, the senior connected for his third score of the game with 7:06 left in the second quarter to give the Bombers the lead for good. Ithaca took a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter as Brandon Rose (Rochester, N.Y.) punched one in with nine seconds remaining in the quarter.

Matt Cutter (Needham, Mass.) gave Ithaca its largest lead of the game at 13-8 with 10:52 left in the game. However, the Hawks made things interesting for a few moments. Hartwick cut the deficit to 13-11 as Steve Caramello (Duxbury, Mass.), Vito DeMola (Holtsville, N.Y.), and Dan Hushion (Farmingdale, N.Y.) each scored within a two-minute span to pull the Hawks within two. LePiane's fifth goal of the game thwarted Hartwick's come back with 5:54 left and Nic Heckman (Sparta, N.J.) added his 14th of the year less than a minute later.

Hartwick, which fell to 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the Empire 8, came out on fire. The Hawks chased starting Bomber goalie Ben Connery 54 seconds into the contest as they received goals from Hushion at 14:16 and Chris Vogler (Lynnfield, Mass.) 10 seconds later to jump to an early 2-0 lead. The advantage grew to 3-0 on Wilk beat back-up goalie David Gal for his first of the game with 13:02 left. Ithaca rallied with consecutive goals from LePiane and Matt Nelligan (Rowley, Mass.) 12:30 and 6:29 respectively to shave the deficit to 3-2. Hartwick ended the scoring in the opening quarter as Vogler punched in his second goal of the quarter with 5:18 remaining.

After the Bombers reeled off three consecutive goals to start the second quarter, Wilk connected for his second of the game with 1:38 left to tie the game at 5-5. However, 21 seconds later, Nelligan gave IC the lead at intermission on his 36th of the year.

Wilk (3 goals, 1 assist) and Vogler (2 goals, 2 assists) each finished the day with four-point efforts. DeMola, who was tied for the Empire 8 lead in goals scored heading into the contest, was held to only two points (1 goal, 1 assist). John Meade (Fire Island, N.Y.) made 12 saves in the loss, while Gal had 11 in the victory.

Hartwick returns to action, Tuesday evening as it travels to face Hamilton. Opening face-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

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Oneonta, N.Y. - The #6 men's lacrosse team (11-2, 5-1 Empire 8) overcame an early deficit to defeat Hartwick (4-7, 2-5 Empire 8) Saturday. With the win, the Bombers remained tied in a tie atop the Empire 8 standings with the Stevens Ducks. Ithaca hosts Stevens next Saturday.

Ithaca fell behind 3-0 within the first two minutes of the contest, but stormed back to score six of the next eight goals. A goal by senior attack Matt Nelligan (Pingree School/Rowley, Mass.) gave the Bombers a 6-5 lead heading into halftime.

The Bombers extended the lead to 10-7 after three quarters thanks to a pair of goals by senior long stick midfielder Brandon Rose (Rush-Henrietta/Rochester). It is the first multi-goal game for Rose at Ithaca.

After the Hawks pulled to within two midway through the third quarter, the Bombers iced the game late with goals by senior midfielder Craig Lepiane (West Irondequoit/Rochester) and sophomore attack Nic Heckman (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.).

The Bombers dominated at the face-off X, with freshman Michael Hennessy (Owen J. Roberts/Spring City) winning 23 of his 28 attempts.

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2008-04-12