ROCHESTER, NY – The No. 2 RIT (12-1) men's lacrosse team had its 52-game regular season winning streak snapped, falling to No. 8 Ithaca College (13-1) 18-16 in non-conference action from Tiger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. It is the first regular season loss for RIT since losing in overtime to SUNY Cortland on March 27, 2013.

Shots were even at 45-45, while the Tigers won the ground ball battle 52-36. RIT won 26-of-38 face-offs, but went 12-of-20 on clearing attempts and committed 18 turnovers.

Ryan Lee (Sharon, Ontario/The Hill Academy) led the Tigers with five points on four goals and an assist. Chad Levick (Newmarket, Ontario/The Hill Academy) added four goals, while Braden Wallace (Oakville, Ontario/Abbey Park) tallied three goals and dished out an assist. Matt Hossack (Port Perry, Ontario/Port Perry) had two goals and two assists, while Kyle Sterzin (Fairport, NY/Fairport) added two goals and an assist.

Steven Ricci (Rochester, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) won a career-best 23-of-34 draws, grabbing a personal best 16 ground balls, while dishing out an assist. Hossack added nine ground balls and caused two turnovers. Dan LoBosco (South Salem, NY/John Jay) scooped up five ground balls, while Patrick Hannigan (Hanover, MA/Hanover) and Josh Harris (St. Catharines, Ontario/Sir Winston Churchill) each had four ground balls. Jarryd Lee (Melbourne, Australia/St. Leonards) took the loss in net, making four saves. Nick Nesbitt (Burlington, Ontario/Salisbuury School) played the second half, and made seven saves.

Jack Shumway led Ithaca's third ranked offense in Division III with six goals. Stephen Morrell scored three goals, while Jake Cotton had two goals and four assists. John Januskiewicz scored two goals and had three assists.

Scott Sidnam, the national leader in save percentage, was excellent in net for the Bombers despite allowing 16 goals, making 17 saves, including nine in the fourth quarter.

The 18 goals allowed by the Tigers were the most allowed in a regular season game since Stevenson defeated RIT, 20-10 on March 3, 2010.

RIT scored the first two goals of the game, taking a 2-0 lead on Sterzin's goal off an assist from Wallace at the 12:12 mark of the quarter. Wallace opened the scoring with his goal on a well-placed outside shot early in the game.

The Bombers stormed back, scoring five straight goals, taking a 5-2 lead on Shumway's second straight goal at the 4:04 mark of the quarter. Morell got Ithaca on the scoreboard at 10:53 of the quarter, scoring on an assist Kaelan Fitzpatrick. Eli Gobrecht scored from his defensive position to give the Bombers their first lead of the game at 3-2.

Sulesky scored off an assist from Lee with 3:10 to play in the quarter to stop the bleeding, but Ithaca tacked a goal with 1:15 to play, making the score 6-3 Ithaca after the first quarter. Cotton made it 7-3 Bombers on his goal off an assist from Januskiewicz at the 10:36 mark of the second quarter.

The Tigers stormed back, tallying three straight goals in a span of 18 seconds. Lee scored on a pass from LoBosco with 9:42 to play in the half that cut the Ithaca lead to 7-4. Levick scored two straight goals off assists from Hossack, making it 7-6 Ithaca on his goal with 9:24 to play in the  half.

Every time RIT would get close, the Bombers would come down and score. Trailing 11-8, Hossack tallied his seventh goal of the season cutting the Ithaca lead to make it 11-9. But, the Bombers tacked on two more goals at the end of the half to lead 13-10 at the break.

Morrell gave the Bombers a 14-10 lead on his unassisted goal to open the scoring in the third quarter. Lee scored from Sulesky at the 6:32 mark of the third to cut the lead to 14-11. Cotton answered right back, scoring off an assist from Greg Drillock. Wallace scored an unassisted goal with 58 seconds to play in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 15-12.

Sterzin made it 15-13 Ithaca on his goal to open the scoring in the fourth quarter. Just as RIT was grabbing momentum, the Bombers scored two straight goals, taking a 17-13 lead on Fitzpatrick's goal with 8:57 to play.

After a Lee goal made it 17-14, Shumway scored with 2:38 to play to make it 18-14. Levick tacked on two late goals, but it was too little too late for the Tigers.

Ithaca leads the all-time series between the two schools, 28-24. RIT had won the previous seven meetings.

RIT returns to action on Saturday, April 23 when the Tigers face Vassar College at 12 p.m.