Ithaca Hosts Morrisville State in NCAA 1st Round
NCAA DIVISION III BRACKET
ITHACA, N.Y. —The Ithaca College men's lacrosse team will make its 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament when the Bombers host Morrisville State at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Higgins Stadium.
The Bombers earned one of the four top seeds for the tournament along with RIT, Salisbury, and Gettysburg.
Ithaca (18-1), ranked No. 1 in the country by both the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) and Nike/Lacrosse Magazine, brings a school-record 16-game winning streak into the first-round NCAA game.
This is Ithaca's ninth NCAA tournament appearance under longtime head coach
Jeff Long, in his 29th season leading the Bombers.
Ithaca earned the Empire 8's automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament after Saturday's 15-11 win over Stevens in the Empire 8 championship.
Morrisville State (13-2) captured the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) title thanks to a 16-11 win over Keuka College. This is the Mustangs' second straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
Ithaca, which is 10-12 all-time in the tournament, last made the tournament in 2014, defeating Montclair State 13-4 in the first round before falling to RIT 20-8 in the second round.
The Bombers set a school-record for wins in a season and went undefeated in Empire 8 play, including capturing the school's fourth conference championship in school history.
Ithaca leads all of Division III in scoring offense (17.37 goals per game) and has scored 15 or more goals in 18 of 19 games).
Sophomore
Jake Cotton leads Ithaca in points (88) and assists (48), and is tied for second in goals scored (40). He is 13
th nationally in assists per game (2.67) and is 16
th nationally in points per game (4.89).
Junior
Jack Shumway ranks 17
th nationally with 3.19 goals per game. He leads Ithaca in goals scored (51) and is second in points (65).
Junior
John Januszkiewicz is the third Bomber with 50 or more points, scoring 58 points on 40 goals with 18 assists. He scored his 100
th career goal in a 16-5 win at St. John Fisher.
A balanced Ithaca offense boasts 11 student-athletes with 20 or more points.
Defensively, Ithaca is led by senior goalie
Scott Sidnam, the MVP of the Empire 8 tournament after making 20 saves in two tournament wins. He ranks second nationally in saves percentage (.624) and is sixth in goals-against average (6.35).
Senior All-American
Eli Gobrecht leads the defense in caused turnovers (56) and is second in groundballs (86) for an Ithaca defense that allows 6.11 goals per game, fifth-best in Division III. Gobrecht is ninth in DIII in caused turnovers per game (2.95).
The second round of tournament play will feature the Ithaca/Morrisville State winner against the winner of Keene State (14-3) and Montclair State (12-6) Saturday.
The third round occurs on Wednesday, May 18, the semifinals are Sunday, May 22, and the championship game is Sunday, May 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.