ALFRED, NY—The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (9-4, E8 3-3) fell to No. 8 Ithaca College in Yunevich Stadium 22-11 Saturday afternoon despite holding an early lead.
 
The Saxons offense came out firing with freshman Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) scoring back-to-back unassisted goals in the second and third minutes. AU held possession of the ball in their offensive third for a majority of the first quarter before the Bombers scored 12 minutes into the game. Ithaca knotted the game at 2-2 with 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
 
AU jumped out to another lead when Fornataro reared back and ripped a shot from the slot into the back of the net. However, the Bombers answered a minute later and continued to score three more goals over six minutes to increase their lead to 6-3. Senior Nolan Jessop (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) broke the run when he cleared the ball from the defensive third into Ithaca territory and rifled a laser from 20 yards out into the back of the net moving the game to 6-4. The Bombers scored three more times before the end of the half, earning a 9-4 lead at the intermission.
 
The Saxons were outpaced 5-3 in the third quarter, falling behind 14-7. AU's goals came from juniors Nick Skibitky (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East), Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia) and John Winchell (Vestal, NY/Vestal). Bishopp added flair with his goal, storming down the center of the field and rocketing a shot from 25 yards out to beat the Ithaca goalie.
 
Sophomore Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) attempted to spark a rally in the final stanza, scoring back-to-back man-up goals over the course of 23 seconds. However, the Bombers quickly stymied the momentum and rattled off four goals over five minutes. Ithaca continued on to score three goals to AU's two, finishing with a 22-11 victory. Bishopp and sophomore Brett McMichael (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) scored the final two Saxon goals.
 
Fornataro led the Saxons with three goals while Lynch and Bishopp netted two goals each. Bishopp paced AU with two assists in the game.
 
The Bombers were led by John Januskiewicz, scoring a game-high seven goals. Jack Shumway tallied five goals for Ithaca.
 
In addition to a goal, Jessop led the Saxons with two caused turnovers. Bishopp collected a team-high seven ground balls while winning 3-of-6 faceoffs.  Senior Max Wilson (Menlo, CA/Menlo-Atherton) accumulated five ground balls on defense.
 
Sophomore Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) and freshman Brandon Smith (Queens, NY/Governor's Academy) split time in goal. Gardner collected a game-high 13 saves for the Saxons.
 
AU looks to get back on track on Wednesday, traveling to Houghton, NY to take on the Highlanders at 7PM.