SUNY Oneonta sophomore goalie Andrew Helfman (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) made a career high 20 saves today, and the Red Dragons battled valiantly, but fell 12-6 to No. 3 Ithaca College.  Except for a scoreless second period, Oneonta (3-3) held their own against one of the top teams in the country.
 
Sophomore Jimmy Kickel (South Setauket/Ward Melville) scored back-to-back goals to get things started for the Red Dragons, who had the Bombers on their heels early.  Kickel's first goal was unassisted while junior Hunter DeLuca (Medford/Patchogue Medford) contributed to his second.
 
Ithaca (7-0) then ran off seven unanswered to get to halftime ahead 7-2.  The Bombers outshot Oneonta 31-14 in the opening 30 minutes of play.
 
Junior TJ Kilmetis (Hicksville/Hicksville) ended Ithaca's run with the opening goal of the third period unassisted.
 
After a pair of goals by the Bombers made it 9-3, sophomore Zachary Harned (Selden/Newfield ) scored his first goal of the season off an assist by Ryan Curley (Manorille/Eastport South Manor).  Junior Alec Solomito (Holtsville/Sachem East) followed three minutes later with an unassisted goal to cut Ithaca's lead to 9-5.
 
The Bombers added another goal before the end of the third period and scored the first two goals of the fourth period to extend its lead to 12-5 with 8:30 left in the contest.  Curley capped the scoring for the Red Dragons with a man-up goal with six seconds remaining.
 
Oneonta will have a week off before getting back into action against city-rival Hartwick College at home next Wednesday beginning at 4pm.