Bombers Dominate Fourth Quarter to Outlast New England College, 14-9
Newport News, Va. – The Ithaca men’s lacrosse team (2-0) remained perfect on the season with a 14-9 neutral site victory against New England College (0-2) on Tuesday evening at Christopher Newport.
After trailing, 7-6, at intermission, Ithaca posted eight of the game’s final 10 goals to claim its second victory of 2012.
Freshman James Manilla and sophomore Pat Slawta each netted hat tricks to lead the Bombers, while senior Tom Mongelli and sophomore Jacob Long added a pair each.
Long dished out a team-best three assists and Slawta and Mongelli each had one.
Senior Brian DiBetta, who also tallied a goal, had a team-best six ground balls and won 11 of 18 contested faceoffs. Classmate Chris Duncan scooped up four ground balls.
Senior Brendan Green made a career-best 17 stops to claim his second collegiate victory in cage.
The Pilgrims outshot Ithaca, 45-36, though Ithaca held a 17-12 edge in ground balls and a 13-11 gap in faceoffs.
Down 1-0 in the first, Ithaca answered as DiBetta and Slawta each notched unassisted goals. The Pilgrims knotted action, 2-2, before Slawta used a Connor Lowe feed to break the tie. Mongelli and sophomore Ryan Burns made it three straight for Ithaca to post a 5-2 lead with five minutes lingering in the first period. New England College responded with three of its own. Senior Devin Weinshank scored Ithaca’s sole goal of the second frame as the Pilgrims took a 7-6 advantage into the half.
The Pilgrims were first to score in the third, but Ithaca went on to net six straight and eight of the final nine goals for the win. Long twice assisted Manilla in the third and Slawta had his final goal of the game to lead 9-8 at the end of the third. Roles revered in the final frame as Slawta assisted Long before Long went unassisted with a man-up goal at 8:46. Mongelli struck again before New England College got on the board at 4:46. Long assisted Lowe and Mongell found Manilla for the last two goals to seal the win.
Box Score