ITHACA, N.Y. - The men’s lacrosse team defeated RIT 12-9 in the Empire 8 Tournament final Sunday to win the Empire 8 title for the first time since 2002. Ithaca earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Junior goalie Ben Connery (Homer/Homer) was named tournament MVP after making a career-high 26 saves in the championship game.

Senior Matt Nelligan (Pingree School/Rowley, Mass.) led the Bombers with four goals and three assists. Classmate Logan Bobzien (Arapahoe/Centennial, Colo.) also scored four goals, tying a career-high, and added two assists.

RIT started the scoring and Ithaca responded scoring two straight, including a man-up tally from Nelligan. He added two unassisted goals to give Ithaca a 4-2 lead after one quarter.

RIT responded in the second quarter, scoring five goals and eventually tying the score at 7 with 34 seconds remaining in the first half. Lepiane then recorded a goal on a feed from Nelligan with one second remaining in the first half to pull Ithaca ahead by one. Ithaca held the Tigers scoreless in the third quarter, and allowed just two goals in the fourth quarter.

Senior Craig Lepiane (West Irondequoit/Rochester) tallied two goals for Ithaca. Senior Kevin Bush (Arapahoe [Colo.]/St. George Island, Fla.) and junior Mike Giunta (B. Reed Henderson/West Chester, Pa.) both recorded a goal.

Connery recorded his eighth win of the season, and his 26 saves were one short of the highest total for a Division III goalie this season. This was the first season the Empire 8 selected a Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.

Bobzien’s 40 assists this season mark the sixth time in program history a Bomber has recorded 40 assists in a season. He also moved into seventh place on Ithaca’s all-time assists list with 88, and is tied for eighth all-time with 180 points. Nelligan is tied for third on the all-time points list with 215.

The NCAA will announce the men’s lacrosse Division III Championship selections the evening of Sunday, May 4.