Ithaca, NY – The finest season in the history of the Montclair State men's lacrosse program came to an end on Wednesday as the 14^th-ranked Red Hawks fell to 15^th-ranked Ithaca in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship, 13-4 at Higgins Stadium.

Montclair, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, closed out the season at 16-2, the 16 victories a single-season record. The Red Hawks were making their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and qualified for the national tournament after beating Kean University, 17-4 in the Skyline Conference championship game last Saturday.

The Bombers (15-4) advance to Saturday's second round where they will face undefeated RIT.

Montclair State got on the board first as Shane Raymond (Old Bridge, NJ, Old Bridge) scored on an unassisted goal with 10:16 left in the opening period. Ryan Burns and Michael Walker countered for Ithaca for a 2-1 lead however Connor Cunningham (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) set up Sam Morrissey (Hackettstown, NJ, West Morris Central) with 2:52 left as the game was tied 2-2 after the first.

The Red Hawks began the second period with the first two goals. Junior Michael Jevic (Voorhees, NJ, Eastern Regional) put MSU in front 1:22 into the quarter and Zach Schreck (Flemington, NJ, Hunterdon Central) assisted on a goal by Brett Mangan (Maplewood, NJ, Columbia) with 12:05 left as Montclair moved in front 4-2.

But that turned out to be the final score for MSU, as the Bombers netted the final 11 goals of the game. Casey Schattner scored with 9:39 remaining and Pat Slawta connected 32 seconds later tying the game. Slawta scored again putting Ithaca in front for good and Andrew Kristy's goal 26 seconds later made the score 6-4 with 4:40 to go. Slawta, who finished with four goals, scored again with 3:26 left as the Bombers took a 7-4 lead into halftime.

Montclair State outshot Ithaca, 47-36, including 22-17 in the second half but the Red Hawks could not anything past goalkeeper Scott Sindham, who finished with 16 saves, including six in the third period. Goalkeeper Michael Dorn (Blairstown, NJ, North Warren) made 10 in his final game with the Red Hawks.

Ryan Totin (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) finished with four ground balls and three caused turnovers for Montclair State while defenders Len Bellezza (Plainsboro, NJ, West Windsor-Plainsboro South) and Robert Snow (Ledgewood, NJ, Roxbury) each forced a pair of turnovers. Freshman Ryan Young (Jackson, NJ, Jackson Memorial) recorded a team-best five ground balls for MSU