Ben Murtagh totaled five points and goalkeeper William Helm made 12 stops to lead the 12th-ranked and second-seeded St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team to a 15-8 win over third-seeded Ithaca in the Liberty League Semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at North Country Field. With today's win, the Saints will make their first appearance in the Liberty League Championship game since 2017 and will face No. 1 and top-seeded RIT. Murtagh tallied four goals and an assist for the Scarlet and Brown, while Jack Hennessey recorded three goals and one assist. Mark Mahoney and Chris Jordan both scored twice, while Judge Murphy, Guthrie Little, Cody Sipher and Stew Hutchinson all put one away for the Saints. Little and Patrick Abad both recorded three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Zach Prime dominated the faceoff dot, going 18-for-24 and picking up a season-best 14 ground balls. Mahoney put the Saints on the board of a quick pass from Murphy to give the Scarlet and Brown a 1-0 lead, but the Bombers added the next two and after John Sarmac's first goal, the Bombers held a 3-2 lead with 2:42 to play in the first. Murtagh scored his second of the game and 10th of the season to tie the game at three heading into the second quarter. Murtagh's goal sparked an eight-goal run and a second-quarter surge for St. Lawrence, giving them a 10-3 advantage with just about three and a half minutes to play in the second. The Bombers tacked on a goal just before the break, but the Saints carried a 10-4 lead into halftime. Both teams traded goals in the third quarter, but Little scored on a breakaway with one second remaining to put the Saints up 13-6. St. Lawrence sealed the win with goals from Hennessey and Sipher to close the game. "We expected Ithaca to come out ready to battle and that was certainly the case," said head coach Mike Mahoney '93, P '22, '24. "I was proud of how we stayed the course early and took advantage of some adjustments particularly on the second-quarter run." Sramac finished with three goals for the Bombers, while Kyle Savery added two. Jake Hall-Goldman recorded four ground balls and caused two turnovers. St. Lawrence outshot Ithaca 52-39, including a 28-21 edge in shots on goal, and also picked up 37 ground balls to the Bombers' 18. Helm made 12 saves for the Saints, while Mike Nassif made one and Connor Thornton finished with 13 saves for the Bombers. The Saints improved to 8-2 overall, while Ithaca fell to 6-4. The Saints will travel to Rochester, New York for the Liberty League Championship game on Saturday, May 8. Game time will be announced when made available. "We are excited about the opportunity to compete for a championship," Mahoney added. "We have a committed group of young men who have earned this next step."