ITHACA, N.Y. – Junior attack Tim Pfeffer (Penfield/Penfield) scored 3:14 into overtime to give the seventh-ranked Ithaca Bombers (17-2) a 13-12 win over the 15th-ranked Western New England Golden Bears (15-5) Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament.

The teams traded offensive chances in the overtime period, with each goalie making a save. The Bombers killed a man-up opportunity late in the period and managed to clear the ball and call a timeout with 1:03 to play. After the timeout, Pfeffer took a pass from sophomore midfielder Nic Heckman (Sparta/Sparta, N.J.) and scored from close range to give Ithaca its first trip to the NCAA semifinals since 2002.

Senior midfielder Craig Lepiane (West Irondequoit/Rochester) led the Ithaca with four goals and an assist. Heckman scored three goals for the Bombers. Senior Jon Hayes (Waltham/Waltham, Mass.) led the Golden Bear offense with four goals and assist.

The Golden Bears jumped on the host Bombers early. Hayes gave Western New England a 2-1 lead late in the first quarter, and then senior Travis Brown (Montpelier [Vt.]/Chapel Hill, N.C.) scored just ten seconds later to give the Golden Bears a 3-1 lead after one quarter.

The Bombers responded by scoring the first five goals of the second quarter – all scored by a different player. Senior Matt Nelligan started the scoring spree for the Bombers, scoring his 50th goal of the season. He now has posted three 50-goal seasons at Ithaca – the only player in program history with multiple 50-goal seasons.

Ithaca extended its lead to four goals early in the third quarter on a goal by Heckman. The Golden Bears began to rally from there, turning up the defensive pressure on the Bombers to force multiple Ithaca turnovers. Western New England scored the game's next five goals to take a 9-8 lead.

Ithaca answered right back, as goals by senior Kevin Bush (Arapahoe [Colo.]/St. George Island, Fla.) and Heckman near the end of the third quarter with two goals to give Ithaca the lead again at 10-9. Western New England traded goals with the Bombers twice in the fourth quarter and trailed by 12-11 after Ithaca scored with 3:15 left. The Golden Bears tallied a goal with 1:02 left in the game to send the game into overtime, setting the stage for Pfeffer's heroics.

Freshman goalie David Gal (Loomis Chafee (Conn.)/Amherst, Mass.) picked up his seventh win of the season, coming off the bench in the third quarter to make a career-high 11 saves. He remains undefeated in his career. Ithaca starter Ben Connery (Homer/Homer) made eight saves. Senior goalie Chris Body (Newtown/Newtown, Conn.) made 14 saves for Western New England.

Senior Logan Bobzien (Arapahoe/Centennial, Colo.) scored a goal and handed out two assists for Ithaca. Bobzien now has 48 assists on the season, setting a program single-season record.

With the win, Ithaca advances to the NCAA semifinal round for the fifth time in school history, and the first time since 2002. The Bombers will face the winner of the Cortland-Middlebury game on Sunday, May 18. Site and time are to be announced.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
WNEC................  3  1  5  3  0 - 12
Ithaca..............  1  6  3  2  1 - 13
 
Attendance:
 
WNEC SCORING:
GOALS: Jon Hayes 4; Joe O'Keefe 3; Travis Brown 2; Mike Kelly 1;
       Tim Heffernan 1; Jared Pabis 1.
ASSISTS: Bryan Cofrin 1; Jon Hayes 1; Mike Kelly 1; Scott Kukis 1;
         Tim Santye 1.
 
Ithaca SCORING:
GOALS: Craig LePIANE 4; Nic HECKMAN 3; Kevin BUSH 2; Logan BOBZIEN 1;
       Matt NELLIGAN 1; Chris CARMAN 1; Tim PFEFFER 1.
ASSISTS: Logan BOBZIEN 2; Nic HECKMAN 2; Alec SIEFERT 2; Craig LePIANE 1;
         Michael SILIPO 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
WNEC................  9  5 16 14  1 - 45
Ithaca.............. 16 16  6 11  2 - 51
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
WNEC................  7 10  7 12  2 - 38
Ithaca..............  5 10  5  4  3 - 27
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
WNEC................  3-5   4-8   4-9   5-6   1-1  - 17-29
Ithaca..............  2-5   4-8   5-9   1-6   0-1  - 12-29
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
WNEC................  6-6   4-5   1-1   5-5   1-1  - 17-18
Ithaca..............  6-7   5-6   2-5   5-7   2-3  - 20-28
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
WNEC................  0-0   0-1   2-2   0-1   0-1  -  2-5
Ithaca..............  0-0   3-3   1-1   1-1   0-0  -  5-5
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
WNEC................  5  5  0  3  1 - 14
Ithaca..............  4  2  7  5  1 - 19
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
WNEC................  3  8  1  4  3 - 19
Ithaca..............  2  7  6  5  1 - 21
 
PENALTIES - WNEC 7/5:30; Ithaca 6/4:00.
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
    Prd  Time Team  Type Goal Scorer      Assists            H-V
----------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 1st  8:57 WNEC  EVEN Joe O'Keefe..... Unassisted.......  0-1
 2.      5:26 IC    EVEN Nic HECKMAN..... Unassisted.......  1-1
 3.      2:24 WNEC  EVEN Jon Hayes....... Unassisted.......  1-2
 4.      2:14 WNEC  EVEN Travis Brown.... Unassisted.......  1-3
 5. 2nd 13:27 IC    EVEN Matt NELLIGAN... Michael SILIPO...  2-3
 6.     12:13 IC    UP   Craig LePIANE... Alec SIEFERT.....  3-3
 7.      9:01 IC    EVEN Logan BOBZIEN... Unassisted.......  4-3
 8.      7:25 IC    UP   Kevin BUSH...... Alec SIEFERT.....  5-3
 9.      6:32 IC    EVEN Chris CARMAN.... Unassisted.......  6-3
10.      3:47 WNEC  EVEN Jon Hayes....... Mike Kelly.......  6-4
11.      1:49 IC    UP   Craig LePIANE... Logan BOBZIEN....  7-4
12. 3rd 12:56 IC    EVEN Nic HECKMAN..... Unassisted.......  8-4
13.     12:41 WNEC  EVEN Jared Pabis..... Unassisted.......  8-5
14.     12:30 WNEC  EVEN Travis Brown.... Unassisted.......  8-6
15.     10:26 WNEC  UP   Jon Hayes....... Unassisted.......  8-7
16.      9:51 WNEC  EVEN Tim Heffernan... Bryan Cofrin.....  8-8
17.      6:53 WNEC  UP   Joe O'Keefe..... Tim Santye.......  8-9
18.      3:50 IC    UP   Kevin BUSH...... Craig LePIANE....  9-9
19.      3:06 IC    EVEN Nic HECKMAN..... Unassisted....... 10-9
20. 4th 14:52 WNEC  EVEN Joe O'Keefe..... Jon Hayes........ 10-10
21.     12:23 IC    UP   Craig LePIANE... Nic HECKMAN...... 11-10
22.      4:17 WNEC  EVEN Mike Kelly...... Unassisted....... 11-11
23.      3:15 IC    EVEN Craig LePIANE... Logan BOBZIEN.... 12-11
24.      1:02 WNEC  EVEN Jon Hayes....... Scott Kukis...... 12-12
25. OT   0:46 IC    EVEN Tim PFEFFER..... Nic HECKMAN...... 13-12

2008-05-14