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Longo's goal
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Senior
Luke Longo scored the game-winning goal just 19 seconds into overtime Wednesday as third-seeded and visiting Nazareth rallied to defeat second-seeded Ithaca, 14-13, in an Empire 8 Conference men's lacrosse playoff game at Higgins Stadium.
The goal, off a bounce shot from the top of the restraining box, improved Nazareth's overall record to 10-8 and capped a second-half comeback in which the Golden Flyers outscored the Bombers 10-5. Nazareth advances to Saturday's E8 title game at top-seeded Stevens at 12 noon.
Overtime did not look like it was ever remotely in the cards earlier in the afternoon. Ithaca came out red-hot during the opening quarter, striking for four goals during the first 7:58 of game action. The Bombers took a 5-2 lead into the second quarter, while three consecutive goals to close the half re-opened the four-point edge at 8-4 through 30-minutes of play.
Ithaca sophomore
Josh Della Puca scored four of his team-best five goals in the first half as the Bombers never trailed. Nazareth got first-half goals from
Hunter Burdick,
Anthony Basile, Eiskant and Longo and were within 5-4 before Ithaca scored the final three goals of the half.
On the strength of
Seth DeLisle's face-off wins, Nazareth was able to strike quickly in the third quarter to change the momentum. The Golden Flyers scored four times in the first 3:21 of the quarter to tie the score at 8-8.
Joe Eiskant and
Chris Murphy scored unassisted goals just 56 seconds apart. Then
Jack Crowley scored his team-leading 31st goal off a pass from Longo. Senior
Nick Arnold's first goal of the game tied the scored 49 seconds later.
A goal by
Jack Shumway interrupted Nazareth's scoring spree, but Arnold scored again and Eiskant scored for the third time with just :05 left in the period to give Nazareth its first lead at 10-9 heading into the fourth quarter.
A goal by
Paul Walter off a pass from Crowley increased the lead to two goals at 11-9, but Ithaca answered with a pair of goals just 56 seconds apart to tie the game again at 11-11. An extra-man goal by
Connor Chapman enabled Nazareth to regain the lead. He later assisted on Arnold's third goal of the game with 2:38 left that gave Nazareth a 13-12 advantage.
Shumway's second goal of the game and 50th of the season tied the game for the final time with 1:23 left. ?Ithaca had a final opportunity to win the game in regulation, but
John Januszkiewicz was unable to get a solid look on net after making a hard drive to the net as time expired.
In overtime,
Seth DeLisle won the face-off, his 24th win of the game in 31 attempts, and the Golden Flyers called timeout to set up the possession.
Chris Murphy started with the ball to the left of the box, sprinted in and passed to Longo, who created separation at the top of the box. His hard bounce shot caromed over the shoulder of Ithaca goalie Justin Isaacs for the winning score.
It was Longo's second goal of the game and ninth of the season. He also had two assists. Seniors
Nick Arnold and
Joe Eiskant each scored three times and DeLisle scooped up a career-high 19 ground balls.
Della Puca led all players with seven points, while Januszkiewicz finished with a four points on three goals and one assist.
Ithaca had a 44-39 advantage in shots, but Nazareth had a 43-40 edge in ground balls.
Alex Winkler started in goal for Nazareth and made four saves in the first half.
Andrew Leahey came on in the second half and had five saves.
Ithaca's
Justin Isaacs picked up the hard-luck loss on the day. He finished the game with a season-high 11 saves.
Nazareth will be shooting for its 10th Empire 8 Conference title Saturday and its 22nd NCAA Tournament bid. The Golden Flyers defeated Stevens last Saturday, 11-7, in the teams' regular-season finale.