ITHACA, N.Y. -- The seventh-ranked men's lacrosse team (16-2) overcame an early 8-2 deficit to defeat 14th-ranked Williams (10-6) 17-10 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Logan Bobzien (Arapahoe/Centennial, Colo.) led the Bombers with nine points; three goals and six assists. His six assists and nine points were both career-highs. Bobzien is now second on Ithaca's season points list with 80, and tied the school record for assists in a season with 46.

Ithaca started the scoring at 12:11 of the first with an unassisted goal from junior Tim Pfeffer (Penfield/Penfield). Williams tallied eight of the next nine goals to take an 8-2 lead. Ithaca responded - three goals (two from Bobzien) at the end of the second quarter for an 8-5 Williams lead at the half.

The Bombers dominated the second half, scoring 12 of the 14 game's second-half goals for the win. Pfeffer gave Ithaca the lead for good with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

Senior Matt Nelligan (Pingree School/Rowley, Mass.) tallied three goals in the game, and his 49 goals are the fourth-highest in a season in program history. Pfeffer recorded a career-high three goals and tied a career-high of four points. Sophomore Nic Heckman (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) scored a goal and added a career-high four assists to tie his career-high five points.

This is Ithaca's second straight trip to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. With the win today, the Bombers tied the school record with wins. The record was set last year when the Bombers finished with a 16-4 overall record.

Senior Craig Lepiane (West Irondequoit/Rochester) and juniors Alec Siefert (Duxbury/Duxbury, Mass.), Matt Cutter (Needham/Needham, Mass.), Mike Giunta (B. Reed Henderson/West Chester, Pa.) and Chris Carman (Monte Vista/Alamo, Calif.) added goals for the Bombers.

Freshman David Gal (Loomis Chafee (Conn.)/Amherst, Mass.) picked up his sixth win of the season, making nine saves. He remains undefeated in his career.

The Bombers will face 15th-ranked Western New England in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday, May 14. The site and time are to be determined.

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ITHACA, N.Y. – The seventh-ranked Ithaca Bombers (16-2) overcame an early six-goal deficit to defeat the 14th-ranked Williams Ephs (10-6) 17-10 Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament.

The Ephs, despite making the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, showed no early jitters, jumping out to an early lead. Freshman attack David Hawley (New Canaan/New Canann, Conn.) got the Ephs on the board five minutes into the game off a feed from senior attack Michael Vrla (Phoenix County Day/Paradise Valley, Ariz.). Two first-quarter goals by sophomore attack Richard Reuter (Ridgewood/Ridgewood, N.J.) helped Williams hold a 5-2 lead after one quarter.

Williams continued to dominate early in the second quarter. Vrla scored three times in the first seven minutes of the period to give Williams an 8-2 lead.

The Bombers began to get untracked late in the second period, as a pair of goals by senior attack Logan Bobzien (Arapahoe/Centennial, Colo.) – both off assists from sophomore midfielder Nic Heckman (Sparta/Sparta) – cut the Ephs' lead to 8-4. A late goal by senior attack Matt Nelligan (Pingree School/Rowley, Mass.) made the score 8-5 at halftime.

The second half was all Ithaca, as the Bombers took control of the game with a third quarter that saw Ithaca outscore Williams 8-1. Seven different Bombers scored goals in the quarter. Junior attack Tim Pfeffer (Penfield/Penfield) gave Ithaca the lead for good with a goal with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter. Ithaca would score the next seven goals to put the game away.

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2008-05-10