Ithaca College quarterback Wahid Nabi threw three touchdown passes, including two to Will Glandey, and the St. Lawrence University football team's comeback attempt fell short as the Saints fell to the Bombers 24-13 in the Liberty League opener for both teams on Saturday.

Ithaca struck early, with Gladney scoring on a 68-yard pass on Ithaca's third play from scrimmage just 44 seconds into the game.

St. Lawrence responded with an 18-play, 82-yard touchdown drive. With the Saints facing fourth-and-six at their own 22-yard line, Austen Lauricella extended the drive with a seven-yard run on a fake punt. The Saints converted four third-down plays to keep the drive alive, including a seven-yard touchdown pass from Sean Richardson to John Maye in the left corner of the end zone. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the Saints behind by one point.

Ithaca once again struck quickly, with Nabi finding Andrew Vito for a 35-yard score on the third play of the following drive.

Nabi found JR Zazzara open in the middle of the field for an 80-yard completion in the third quarter, but Dan Jeffrey tracked Zazzara down from behind to make a touchdown-saving tackle at the St. Lawrence 4-yard line. After an unsportmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Bombers back to the St. Lawrence 19, the Saints' defense held the Bombers to a 34-yard field goal by David Prudhomme, which increased Ithaca's lead to 17-6.

Ithaca scored its final touchdown early in the fourth quarter, with Nabi connecting with Gladney on a 27-yard pass to give the Bombers a 24-6 lead.

The Saints once again responded with an impressive drive, going 74 yards in 14 plays, with Richardson finding Travis Marnell open at the 5-yard line, and Marnell diving into the end zone for a 15-yard scoring play. Marnell's second touchdown of the season cut the lead to 11 points with 8:24 to play, but the Saints failed to score again.

"Today's game was a game of big plays," said head coach Dan Puckhaber. "Ithaca made some big plays, and we didn't make enough of them. They blocked really well and we didn't block as well as we could have. We have a bye next week, so that gives us two weeks to focus on Western New England."

Richardson finished the game 20-for-38 for 208 passing yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Vincenzo Ferraro made seven catches for 78 yards, Marnell caught six passes for 58 yards, and Maye had five catches for 57 yards. Rodrick Payne led the Saints on the ground rushing for 42 yards on 16 carries.

Nabi passed for 357 yards, completing 16-of-26 passes. Gladney had seven catches for 180 yards, and Zazzara caught four balls for 99 yards. Tristan Brown rushed for 58 yards on 18 carries.

William Garrity led the Saints' defense with 10 tackles and an interception while Skyler Williamson had seven. Tyler Mirabile had 2.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a total loss of 12 yards, including a nine-yard sack. Brendan Donahoe, the reigning Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week, also had an interception for the second consecutive week.

Kenny Bradley led Ithaca's defense with 10 tackles and in interception. Brian Gill had nine stops with three for a loss, including a sack that set the Saints back 11 yards.

St. Lawrence fell to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the Liberty League, while Ithaca improved to 1-2, 1-1.

St. Lawrence has a bye next week, then heads to Springfield, Massachusetts to face Western New England on September 30.