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The Saint Vincent football team opened the 2018 season with a 38-14 loss on the road at Ithaca College in New York.

Things started well for the Bearcats, as Antiwon Battle intercepted a pass on the third play of the game, returning it 57 yards to the Ithaca three-yard-line.  On second down, Mike Stasko scored on a 3-yard run, putting the Bearcats in front.  Sam Elliott added the extra point, and it was 7-0 Bearcats with 13:25 remaining in the first quarter.
 
After forcing a punt by the Bombers, SVC turned the ball over at its own 35 on a fumble.  However, the defense stopped the hosts on a fourth down play at the 30, taking over possession with 8:07 remaining.

The Bearcats once again turned the ball over, this time on an interception, and it led to a 30-yard field goal that made it 7-3.
 
On the ensuing possession, the Bearcats turned the ball over for the third time in the quarter, and the fumble was returned to the end zone to put Ithaca in front, 10-7.  After a Saint Vincent punt, Ithaca drove 79 yards in 7 plays, scoring on a one-yard run that made the score 14-7.
 
Another Bearcat fumble was scooped up by a Bomber defender just two plays later, and returned 34 yards for the hosts' second defensive touchdown of the half, making the score 24-7. 
 
SVC went into the locker room trailing by that margin.

The Bearcats went for it on a fourth-and-three play on their first drive of the second half, but were unable to get the first down, turning the ball over on downs.  Midway through the quarter, Ithaca scored on a 45-yard pass play, going in front 31-7.

Down 38-7 in the fourth, the Bearcat offense got a spark from freshman quarterback Tekoah Guedes, who connected with receiver Keith Kalp for a 33-yard touchdown pass.  Elliott added the extra point to make it 38-14, and that would prove to be the final scoring play of the game.

Stasko led the Bearcats on the ground with 16 carries for 48 yards.  Guedes was 15-20 through the air for 94 yards.  Stasko was his favorite target, catching five passes for 26 yards.  Kalp had four receptions for 51 yards, while Sam Nowicki had three receptions for 12 yards.  

Ithaca held the advantage, 23-11, in first downs, while gaining 142 yards on the ground compared to 122 for Saint Vincent.  Ithaca had a strong passing game, with 281 yards in the air, while SVC had 94.  SVC had five turnovers on the day, to go along with two takeaways.  In addition to Battle's interception, Le'ton Quao had an interception in the end zone.

Defensively, Zack Altieri had four solo tackles and assisted on four others.  Izaak Gray had four solo and three assisted tackles, while Hauns White had two solo stops and assisted on five more.  Gray recorded two sacks for a total loss of 11 yards.

SVC returns to action on Saturday, September 8 as SVC travels to Beaver Falls to face Geneva College at 7PM.