ITHACA, N.Y. (May 7, 2016) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team fell to No. 1 Ithaca College 15-11 in the Empire 8 Conference Championship game Saturday.

The Ducks fell to 14-5, while Ithaca improved to 18-1. Stevens will wait for the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night at 9 p.m. to see if they have secured an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. By virtue of winning the tournament, Ithaca secured the Empire 8 automatic bid to the Big Dance.

Sophomore John Boutureira got the Ducks on the board 3:52 into game, ducking around a defender and firing a shot past the Bomber keeper. Freshman Carson White was faced with four shots in the five minutes but held his own, and sophomore Tommy Dawson added a tally to push the Ducks lead to a pair. 

38 seconds after Ithaca scored their first goal, Boutureira fired in his second of the afternoon. White would make a stop from in-close, but the Bombers corralled the rebound and once again cut the gap to one. Ithaca would score four goals within a 3:26 stretch in the second quarter to take control of the game up to that point. The Ducks got a goal back at the 6:48 mark, as junior Chris Contino launched a three quarter field shot and caught the Ithaca goalie out of position for his second of the season. 

Boutureira completed his hat trick with under four to go in the second quarter, but Ithaca would answer a minute later. With time winding down in the period, freshman Dean Peluso ripped a feed from senior Andrew Scrutchfield to put the Ducks down two heading into halftime. The teams traded the first four markers of the second half, with Boutureira scoring his fourth six minutes into the third.

The Boutureira marker ignited a 3-0 spurt as Peluso and senior Colin Sawula added goals to close out the third frame. After the Sawula goal, Ithaca scored the first four of the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. Senior Matt Ferentini would tally a man up goal with 1:09 left, but the Bombers would add one more of their own for the 15-11 victory.

Boutureira scored a career-best four goals on 10 shots, while seniors Brett Incollingo and Connor O'Shea tied for the team lead with three ground balls. White stopped 14 shots, while Contino led the way with two caused turnovers.

Jack Shumway led IC with four goals, while Scott Sidnam made 14 saves in the cage. 

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