ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 19 Ithaca College football team will open the NCAA Division III Championship this Saturday, November 18 at Springfield College. The first round contest will kick off at 12 p.m. at Stagg Field. Ithaca is 8-2 on the season and Springfield is 9-1.

GAME COVERAGE

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TICKETS: Gates will open at 10:30am on Saturday. Ticket prices are as follows.

Tickets may be purchased onsite at the main entrance to Stagg Field, or in advance at https://springfieldcollegepride.com/information/Hometown_Ticketing.

Adult - $8.00
Senior - $4.00
Student/Youth (ages 3 through college) - $4.00
Child (2 and under) – Free

FACILITIES/CAMPUS MAP

ALL-TIME SERIES: Ithaca and Springfield are no strangers to each other, as the Bombers and Pride have met 39 times (30-9 in favor of IC) since 1973 and were Empire 8 rivals for much of the early 2000s. Most recently, Ithaca and Springfield squared off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year and the Bombers prevailed, 31-20.

LAST YEAR'S NCAA MATCHUP: Springfield jumped out to a 10-0 in the first quarter, but the Bombers fought back to take a 21-20 halftime edge and shutout the Pride in the second half.

Springfield entered that game as the national leader in time of possession (35:05) and fewest tackles for loss allowed (28), as well as second in fewest turnovers (seven) and rushing yards (354). The Bomber defense limited the Pride to 24:49 in possession, recorded 10 tackles for loss, forced four turnovers and held Springfield to 252 yards rushing.

Jalen Leonard-Osbourne had two receiving touchdowns on four catches for 101 yards, while A.J. Wingfield ran for 88 yards and threw for 168.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Ithaca claimed its second straight Liberty League championship this season with a perfect 6-0 mark. The Bombers also defeated now No. 14 Endicott and Alfred to achieve the hardest strength of schedule in Division III at .673. IC's only losses the season were to now No. 7 Johns Hopkins (27-17) and No. 11 Cortland (38-28).

Springfield claimed its third consecutive NEWMAC title to earn an automatic bid. The Pride's only setback came to Union, 34-7, during Week 3 of the season. Since then, Springfield has steamrolled its competition by more than 30 points per game - 304 (43.4) to 82 (11.7).

ITHACA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: The Bombers are one of the most storied programs in Division III history with three national championships in 1979, 1988 and 1991. IC has reached the national title game seven times, finishing as the runner-up in 1974, 1975, 1980 and 1985. Only Mount Union (13), Wisconsin-Whitewater (6) and Augustana (4) have more national titles than Ithaca.

IC will be making its 21st all-time appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship and owns an overall record of 30-17.

THE 2023 NCAA DIVISION III FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The football national tournament is a 32-team field broken down into 28 automatic bids and five at-large berths. Schools will play on campus sites until the national championship game, also known as the Stagg Bowl, on Dec. 15 in Salem, Va.

LIBERTY LEAGUE HONORS: On Tuesday, the Liberty League released its all-league teams and IC placed 17 players on one of three teams. Along with that, Leonard-Osbourne was named Offensive Player of the Year, Ben Stola was the Defensive Player of the Year and Michael Toerper and staff were named Coaching Staff of the Year.

On the First Team were: Wingfield, Leonard-Osbourne, Stola, Sam Kline, Dan Mason, Colin Norton, JoJo Puckey, Isaiah Couser, Jordan Sosa, Jake Connolly and Derek Slywka.

Second Team was: Jonathan Koumas and Derek Baldin.

Honorable Mention selections were: Joe Arico, Alexander Rice, Tamir Rowser and Darren Brunner.

SLYWKA SNAGS SECOND D3FOOTBALL.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK: For the second time this season and third of his career, Slywka found a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week. Slywka recorded six total tackles with an interception returned for 57 yards and a pass breakup in a 38-28 loss to Cortland on November 11. He notched his sixth interception of the year, which continued his streak of five straight games with a pick. Slywka has also recorded six pass breakups over the past five games, and has 10 on the season.

MORE ABOUT THE BOMBERS: The Bombers had their eight-game winning streak snapped last week in the 64th Cortaca Jug. IC reached the eight-win marker for the sixth straight season after its 51-14 victory at St. Lawrence on November 4.

Ithaca enters this contest averaging 28.5 points and 383.3 yards per game. The defense allows 14.6 points and 302.5 yards. IC has forced at least one turnover in nine of its 10 games this season and the Bombers have produced 21 takeaways over the seven games.

Leonard-Osbourne has 861 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, to go along with 368 yards receiving and three more scores. Colin Schumm has stepped in at quarterback over the past five games and has thrown for 716 yards and four touchdowns during that time. Kline leads the receivers with 616 yards and five touchdowns.

Defensively, Stola paces the unit with 102 total tackles and 10 tackles for loss. Connolly ranks second with 75 tackles, while Koumas is third with 55 stops.

Brunner averages just under 40 yards per punt in 35 attempts, while Baldin is 10-for-14 in field goal tries.

NCAA STAT LEADERS: Ithaca is third nationally in sacks allowed per game, seventh in interceptions with 18, ninth in turnovers lost and interceptions thrown and 13th in turnover margin. The Bombers also rank 21st in fumbles lost, 22nd in tackles for loss allowed and blocked punts and 27th in blocked kicks and scoring defense.

SCOUTING SPRINGFIELD: The Pride have won seven straight contests leading up to this matchup. Springfield is the national leader once again in rushing yards per game at 407.4, while the Pride also rank first nationally in yards per completion. SC is also third in fourth down conversions and interceptions thrown, fourth in time of possession and fifth in blocked punts and tackles for loss allowed.

The triple option offense runs through Arsen Shtefan, who has 1206 yards on 197 carries and nine touchdowns. Blane Hart is a homerun threat with 776 yards and 11 scores on just 62 attempts, while quarterback Jacob Silvester has 578 yards and 11 scores. Joseph Cannizzaro and Dante Vasquez will also see time in the backfield with a combined 1015 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.

Aiden Lewin is Springfield's top defender with 78 total tackles, while Will McKay and Quinn Sweeney each have 8.5 tackles for loss on the year. Joe Maurer has logged 48 total tackles and is the Pride's punt returner with an average of 16.2 yards per return and one touchdown.

Christian Hutra, a 2022 All-American, is 6-of-10 in field goal tries this season with a long of 51 yards.

UP NEXT: The winner of this game will advance to the second round to take on the winner of No. 8 Randolph-Macon and Christopher Newport next Saturday, November 25.