SCRANTON, Pa.-The University of Scranton put up a valiant effort in dropping a 13-8 decision to 7th-ranked Ithaca College Saturday afternoon at Fitzpatrick Field.

The Royals, now 1-1, received two goals apiece from junior Nick Youngstrom (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) and freshman Kyle Frank (Glen Arm, Md./Boys' Latin), but it wasn't enough to offset a 4-goal, 1-assist effort by the Bombers' Matt Nelligan (Rowley, Mass./Pingree School). Ithaca, now 2-0, also received three goals and an assist by sophomore Nic Heckman (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) and two goals from senior Kevin Bush (St. George Island, Fla./Arapahoe-Colo.).

Scranton took a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by junior Thomas Korbobis (Merrick, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) early in the first-half and forged a 2-2 tie on an unassisted goal freshman Tim Golder (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) minutes later. The Bombers then took control by scoring five straight goals-two each by Heckman and Bush-to build up an 8-3 halftime lead.

The Royals took advantage of a penalty to score a man-up goal by sophomore Phil Lindner (Parlin, N.J./St. Joseph Metuchen) to cut the lead to 8-4 with 10:18 left in the third period before Nelligan and junior Alex Siefert Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) scored back-to-back goals to make it 10-4. Frank then cut the advantage down to four, 10-6, with goals at the end of the third period and the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Bombers then out-scored Scranton 3-2 the rest of the way to set the final score.

Freshman goalie Jeremy Dowiak (Hackettstown, N.J./West Morris) finished with 12 saves and Ithaca junior Ben Connery (Homer, N.Y./Homer) was credited with a game-high 14. Kornobis also finished with three assists for Scranton, which will host Tri-State University (Ind.) this Wednesday, March 5, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

In an evenly-played game, the Bombers held a 33-32 edge in shots and a 39-30 margin in ground balls.

Score by Periods   1  2  3  4  Total
Ithaca (2-0)       5  3  2  3   13
Scranton (1-1)     2  1  2  3    8

Goals:
Ithaca-13 (Nelligan-4, Heckman-3, Bush-2, Bobzien-1, Lepiane-1, Pfeffer-1, Siefert-1)
Scranton-8 (Frank-2, Youngstrom-2, Kornobis-1, Bruestle-1, Lindner-1, Golder-1)

Assists:
Ithaca-5 (Bobzien-2, Heckman-1, Nelligan-1, Nowak-1)
Scranton-5 (Kornobis-3, Bruestle-1, Frank-1)

Saves:
Ithaca-14 (Connery-14, 8 goals allowed, 60:00)
Scranton-12 (Dowiak-12, 13 goals allowed, 60:00)

2008-03-01