A Bittersweet Return

Another weekend, another easy win for the Bombers.

Ithaca College football won its third straight game as the Bombers rolled over the Utica Pioneers 42-7. While Thomas Bergerstock was the story during the game with 138 rushing yards and a school-record tying five touchdowns, the real story was Blaise Faggiano’s return to Ithaca College.

Faggiano, now the head coach of the Pioneers, spent a lot of time with Ithaca College football. He played with the team in the early 1990’s and was a member of the 1991 team which won the National Championship. In addition, he served as an assistant coach under current Bombers Head Coach Mike Welch. Over the last 9 years, Faggiano served as an assistant coach for the Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher Cardinals. His biggest role, however, was as a recruiter for the team, which helped lead the Cardinals to supremacy in the Empire 8.

Faggiano’s return to IC obviously ended bittersweet as his team was upended and could not match up with the Bombers. But despite the loss, the former Bomber was able to relive the proud moments he experienced while with Ithaca College football.

Below, I have added a map of the three colleges in which Faggiano has coached at. For more on the game, you can visit this article on the Bombers' website. For more on Blaise Faggiano’s thoughts on his return to Ithaca College, you can read this article in the Ithaca Journal.


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--Michael Polak