“Obviously, I was proud of the way we fought and thought we showed a lot of heart,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “In the end, just ended up one short on the scoreboard.”

“We were able to get the lead with six minutes left, but unfortunately, couldn’t hold on to it and couldn’t get the ball in overtime and credit to them, they scored a good goal there,” he continued.

The Bulldogs (10-5, 5-1 AE) were first to find net, going up 1-0 early in the first quarter. Bryant soon found another score, building its lead to 2-0. Binghamton (5-9, 3-3 AE) continued to search for its opening score, rattling off three consecutive shot attempts, but it was Bryant who found net yet again.

BU opened its scorebook after winning the ensuing face-off, and graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris found twine.

“We talk about it a lot in terms of just trying to be resilient and respond to adversity,” McKeown said. “Lacrosse is a game of runs, so we knew at some point they were going to have some momentum and go on a run, and I guess unfortunately it was to start the game, so we were kind of playing from behind a little bit.”

In the second quarter, the Bearcats got on the board first when Ferris found sophomore long stick midfielder Nolan Sharkey, who buried it in the back of the net to make it a 3-2 game. Bryant would control possession while scoring consecutive goals to take a 5-2 lead. Senior attack Dan Garone responded with a score for the Bearcats, but another pair of scores from the Bulldogs saw Binghamton trail 7-3. However, a score from sophomore midfielder Riley Jenkins as time expired saw the Bearcats enter the half trailing by three.

“I thought we battled the face-off,” McKeown said. “I think the stats maybe didn’t quite show. I mean, we won a few right back after they had won it. So I thought we really scrapped for some possessions there and that was a focus going in.”

The third quarter opened with a nearly seven-and-a-half-minute scoring drought that junior midfielder Colin Delay ended when he found twine at 7:28. A retaliatory score from Bryant made it a 5-8 game, but Delay found twine once again. With 1:01 remaining in the third quarter, Ferris lit up the scoreboard as the Bearcats entered the final period of play down by one.

“I thought the defense played well,” McKeown said. “To hold a team like that to nine in four quarters, 10 with overtime. They’re a good offense.”

“So I was proud of the way our defense played, them combined with [senior goalie Connor Winters],” he continued.

Bryant opened the fourth quarter with six consecutive shots, but was unable to find a score. After three unsuccessful shot attempts, Delay found twine, securing a hat-trick and notching the score at 8-8.

Soon after, a Bulldogs score was overturned and senior attack Gage Adams found net to give the Bearcats their first lead of the day. Bryant finally got one past Winters at the 4:14 mark and both squads were held scoreless through the rest of play, forcing a golden-goal overtime period. After winning the opening face-off, Bryant found twine, as BU fell 10-9.

“I thought our seniors did a great job leading this team all year,” McKeown said. “I told the guys that after the game, I thought they really believed and they were really building over their four years here.”

The loss brings Binghamton’s 2025 campaign to an end, as they fell short of qualifying for the AE Finals. However, several Bearcats found success this year. Delay and Sharkey were named to the AE All-Tournament Team for their performances in the semifinal matchup. Ferris, sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo and senior defender Lorenzo Ramos all earned first team All-Conference honors.

“I think the teams that are at the top of the conference are all extremely competitive,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We’ve had close games the past few years with everybody. So we just need to make sure we’re learning from these results, win or lose, and continuing to get better as we get toward the end of April.”

Throughout Saturday’s match, Binghamton honored and celebrated the life of fallen firefighter John “JR” Gaudet, who was also an alumnus of the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team. Outside of his service as a firefighter, Gaudet served the community as a volunteer youth sports coach, working with organizations like Binghamton Youth Lacrosse.

(2:27) “I was able to play with JR for two years,” McKeown said. “I was in the same class with him here, and we talked about him and his selflessness and [were] able to tell some stories from when he was here and he was the same way. I wasn’t surprised to hear that he was putting his life on the line in an unfortunate tragedy. So we’ll continue to honor him and do a lot of the youth stuff in the community moving forward.”

After a successful clear attempt by Binghamton (4-6, 2-1 AE) kickstarted its first possession, senior attacker Dan Garone opened the scoring. The next two BU possessions saw two scores from senior attack Gage Adams. BU continued its red-hot start with strikes from graduate student attacker/midfielder Liam Ferris and senior midfielder Thomas Kelly that capped off the 5-0 unanswered run. Albany (4-8, 2-2 AE) would finally get on the board at the 2:02 mark, capitalizing on a failed clear attempt by the Bearcats, as quarter one came to a close.

“I’m not sure how much changed,” McKeown said of the team surrendering an early lead. “I do think they made a good switch from going to zone. I think that just slowed our offense down a little bit. I thought we were really attacking well early, and when they went to zone, we just kind of had to change what we were doing.”

The second quarter opened with a triplet of scores from Albany to cut its deficit to 5-4. After Albany’s game-tying score was nullified by a crease violation, sophomore attacker Andrew Girolamo found twine to end Binghamton’s 15:21 scoreless run. The Great Danes managed a retaliatory score to cut the lead within one before the clock ran out with the scoreboard reading 6-5 Binghamton.

“We had a couple failed clears, couple penalties in that second quarter, where I thought we just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit and gave them some opportunities to gain some momentum, which they did,” McKeown said. “Overall proud of the effort … I thought we had some good opportunities to finish. We just didn’t put it in the back of the net.”

Albany continued mounting pressure in the second, opening play with a pair of scores to take a 7-6 lead. After stopping an Albany clear attempt, a BU fast break saw Ferris score once more, but the tie was swiftly broken by a pair of Albany scores to take a 9-7 lead. Senior long stick midfielder Paolo Capucciati then found twine with three seconds in the quarter as the Bearcats entered the fourth quarter trailing by one.

“I thought we rolled the ball well,” McKeown said. “I think [senior goalie Connor Winters] played well in net. I do think we played well defensively, six on six. They got going a little bit in transition off the failed clears, which was a focus for us. So I think definitely still plenty to work on, and [we] have three big conference games left.”

Once again, Albany was the first to get on the board, taking a 10-8 lead early in the fourth quarter. Binghamton nearly found twine when two consecutive shots from junior midfielder Will Feldmann bounced off the crossbar, but instead, the Great Danes scored again with 1:55 to play for 11-8. Ferris found twine to keep the Bearcats in it, but the Great Danes recovered possession and ran out the clock for Binghamton’s first AE loss this season.

“They’re just good offensively,” McKeown said. “You’re not going to hold a team like that down really, really low. I feel like if we maybe didn’t make those mistakes we can hold them to a single-digit number, which typically if you do, you put yourself in a good position.”

The Bearcats will look to move back into first in the AE when they take on UMBC on Saturday, April 12. Faceoff is scheduled for noon at UMBC Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

I thought we competed really hard,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I thought we fought hard … I was proud of our guys, how they kinda stuck with it and closed the gap toward the end, and we just weren’t able to quite do enough there.”

Despite losing the game-opening faceoff, Binghamton (4-5, 2-0 AE) opened scoring when senior attack Gage Adams found twine. Harvard (7-2, 1-1 Ivy League) responded soon after, and an unsuccessful clear attempt by the Bearcats allowed Harvard to score once more. The Crimson stayed hot, winning the ensuing faceoff and finding the back of the net. A successful finish from graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris saw BU cut the deficit to one, but the Crimson struck back once more in the final second of quarter one to make it 4-2.

“I think offensively, it was actually one of our best games, in terms of how we played offense,” McKeown said. “I just don’t think we gave the ball enough through clearing the ball from the defensive end.”

Harvard opened the second quarter with a goal just 40 seconds into the period, but sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo lit up the board for BU soon after to keep pace. The Crimson fought back, swinging into full gear and scoring five straight over the next 5:27, with four of their five goals following a failed clear attempt or a turnover. The foes continued to trade shots with BU rattling off four and Harvard five, but the scoreboard remained static as the first half came to a close.

“I don’t think there were a ton of adjustments [at halftime],” McKeown said. “I thought we had some good looks in the first half, where their goalie came up with some good saves. I think we worked some good opportunities in the second half, maybe we improved those opportunities a little bit.”

Harvard continued its scoring run into the second half, adding two more goals. Binghamton responded with consecutive goals of its own, courtesy of Adams and Ferris. After another score from the Crimson, three consecutive saves from senior goalie Connor Winters slowed the pace of play, but Harvard eventually found the net once again. Soon after, junior midfielder Gavin Jacobsen found net to cut Harvard’s lead down to 14-6. Both teams then found twine during their respective final possessions of the quarter, as Ferris lit up the scoreboard for BU with just two seconds remaining in the quarter.

“[Winters] was great,” said McKeown. “I thought he bailed us out defensively when we had some breakdowns. He played with a lot of energy, a lot of poise, some really big saves. I wasn’t surprised to see that out of him, he’s a guy we count on to do that.”

Reinvigorated by their last-second score, the Bearcats hit the ground running in the fourth quarter, as sophomore midfielder Brady Sharkey found net just 17 seconds into the quarter. The Bearcats continued to hound Harvard, with Adams scoring three consecutive goals to cut the once 15-6 deficit to 15-11 with 9:35 to play. Looking to slow the Bearcats’ surge, Harvard slowed its pace of play before a late score ended BU’s run. Both squads scored once more as the clock ran down, with Binghamton’s comeback attempt ultimately falling short 17-12.

“We’re gonna get back to work, get ready for a quality opponent in Albany,” McKeown said. “All teams that we’re finishing up with are ones that we’re obviously pretty familiar with, so we’ll dig in, take it one week at a time and try to make a run here at the end of the season.”

The Bearcats will look to stay undefeated in AE play against Albany on Saturday, April 5. Faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“I think there was definitely some areas that we were trying to work on after not winning the first couple games,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I think clearing was one of them, the faceoff was one of them, and I think both of those things have improved the last few games, so those two things help get us possession and prevent the other team from scoring. I think those would probably be the two biggest focuses that we were trying to work on, and I think that, definitely, that did help today.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Binghamton (4-4, 2-0 AE) and St. Bonaventure (5-6, 0-0 Atlantic 10) battled it out in the second to see who could get on the board first. After a few unsuccessful shots, the Bearcats found the back of the net at the 10:15 mark, courtesy of senior midfielder Nick Cartmill. Less than a minute after, the Bearcats struck again with a goal from junior midfielder Colin Delay.

The next few minutes of play saw possession go back and forth as the teams fought for the next goal. With only 1:33 left in the second quarter, junior midfielder Gavin Jacobsen punched one more in to give Binghamton a 3-0 lead.

“I think in the second quarter, we did better offensively just finishing the plays,” McKeown said. “I thought we were a little more purposeful with our shooting. Second half, I didn’t think we did great with that, we ended up with, I think, 50 shots and only scored six, so definitely would like to can more of those, but defensively, I think we did really well.”

In the third quarter, the Bearcats looked to advance their lead, but the Bonnies found twine first to get on the board. This was the only goal allowed on the period by senior goalie Connor Winters, whose six saves saved BU’s lead. Binghamton responded when junior midfielder Tyler Martini found the back of the net, giving Binghamton a 4-1 lead going into the final quarter.

“I think the way we played defensively was great,” McKeown said. “I think Connor Winters in net coming up with maybe his biggest game of the year — we’re gonna need him to play big to win the conference games especially, that we’re looking at ahead of us. I think he’s a guy that we are counting on to move this team and expect big things out of.”

The fourth quarter saw a major momentum shift, as St. Bonaventure successfully came back with a four-goal run to take a 5-4 lead. This put the Bearcats on the back foot for the first time all game, but graduate student attack/midfield Liam Ferris came through in the clutch to tie the game 5-5 to go to overtime. In the extra period, Binghamton battled to take home the win, and with nine seconds remaining, a goal from Jacobsen secured BU’s fourth consecutive victory.

“We had two penalties there and they scored one man up and then I think they scored another one,” McKeown said. “I don’t know if they were still man up at the time, but it was another opportunity for them to go man up back to back. I think that was something that gave them a little bit of a spark. They scored the first one and then were able to kind of get the third goal just off of their man up.”

Binghamton will look to keep the ball rolling against No. 12 Harvard for its next match on Saturday, March 29. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jordan Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I think just maybe some comfortability,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “Your own environment, your own locker room that you get at home that you might not get on the road. But honestly, I think we expect to be better than we were today, and I’m not sure if it mattered where we had played.”

Hofstra (4-1) took the lead early on with three consecutive goals in the first four minutes. This did not deter Binghamton (0-3), as a minute after the third goal, graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris picked up a ground ball and put Binghamton on the board. The Pride’s offense did not relent, setting the score at 6-1 with two minutes left of play in the first period. With only 54 seconds remaining, junior midfielder Colin Delay connected with sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo, who found the back of the net. As the seconds dwindled, the Pride had a man-up opportunity that led to one more goal as they went into the second quarter up 7-2.

“Honestly, first half, we didn’t like too much,” McKeown said. “They scored on eight of their first 11 possessions and I didn’t think we did a good job of being patient offensively. I did think that we battled pretty well facing off, but we just didn’t come out and I thought we were a little tentative while they were a little more aggressive and got after us at the start.”

The second period started with a faceoff win and clear from Hofstra, leading to another three-goal run and a 10-2 advantage. With eight minutes left, the Bearcats looked for an opportunity to get back on the board, but two of their shots on goal were saved. With just two minutes remaining, Ferris, off an assist from sophomore attack Drew Filanowski scored Binghamton’s third goal, bringing the first half to a close with a score of 10-3.

“I thought toward the end of the second quarter we started sticking to the game plan a little bit more,” McKeown said. “We didn’t really make any big schematic changes necessarily at halftime.”

Binghamton won the opening faceoff as it searched for the first goal of the third period. After four minutes of play, the Bearcats would have a shot on goal that Hofstra’s goalkeeper ultimately saved. The quarter ended with two more goals, one from Hofstra and one from the Bearcats, courtesy of Girolamo, as the scoreboard read 12-4 going into the final quarter of play.

“We got to do a better job securing the ball, clearing and do the faceoff,” McKeown said. “I think offensively/defensively, you know, we’re gonna, probably just really look to get back to basics, slide and recover defensively and move the ball and work for good opportunities on offense.”

Early into the fourth period, Hofstra scored on a man-up opportunity, going up 13-4. For the next seven minutes, the ball went back and forth until a turnover from Hofstra and a clear from the Bearcats led sophomore long stick midfielder Nolan Sharkey to score his first collegiate goal. With 37 seconds left, Hofstra found the back of the net one last time as the Bearcats fell 15-5.

“We’ll take a look at everything,” McKeown said. “Thankfully, I think, hopefully it’s a good thing that we have a quick turnaround and play midweek and we’re able to get back out there and hopefully forget about this one.”

Binghamton will return home for its home opener against Siena on Wednesday, March 5. Faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“It’s been a long week for us,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We weren’t able to practice outside at all, and I think it showed a little bit today. We really didn’t clear the ball well all day and I thought ultimately that was the biggest difference in the game.”

The Bearcats (0-2) got on the board early with two quick goals within the first three minutes courtesy of graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris and sophomore attack Drew Filanowski. After a few minutes of back-and-forth play from both sides, an assist from Ferris led to a goal by senior attack Gage Adams to give Binghamton a 3-0 advantage. Marist (2-1) continued to look for an opportunity to get on the board and ultimately found the back of the net with four minutes left, ending the first quarter down 3-1.

“I thought we played hard,” McKeown said. “Then they put one in at the end of the second quarter right before halftime — it was like a deflective pass. I felt like we were doing okay, but again, I didn’t think the way we were clearing the ball was going to be able to hold up.”

The second quarter began with an early goal from Marist, putting the score at 3-2. The Bearcats responded with two goals of their own from Ferris on a man-up opportunity off an assist from sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo and from senior attack Dan Garone, making the score 5-2. Within the final seven minutes of play, the Red Foxes were able to capitalize on opportunities and scored two goals of their own before the period finished. The first half of play ended 5-4, with the Bearcats holding on to the lead.

“We made a couple of adjustments lining up on our clear and provide a little more support at the midfield,” McKeown said. “I thought we adjusted okay to that. We made a few stick work errors that I think bite us a little bit, but, we felt like for not clearing the ball as much as we did in the first half to be winning, we were pretty fortunate.”

Binghamton found success in the third quarter from a man-up opportunity when junior midfielder Gavin Jacobsen found the back of the net off an assist from Girolamo to give the Bearcats a 6-4 lead. Marist then captured the next two goals, tying things at six. Binghamton quickly responded with a goal from Garone off an assist from Ferris to take back the lead. The next few minutes of play, the ball went back and forth, but the period ended with BU up 7-6.

“Without watching the film, I thought we did pretty well there,” McKeown said. “I think [Marist] got a pretty explosive offense and got some good players. I thought [senior goalie Connor Winters] played well in net, I thought our close defense did a good job on their attack. Offensively, I thought we had some good possessions, we moved the ball well at times.”

The final quarter began with Marist getting on the board within the first few seconds, tying the game at seven. The Bearcats looked to take back the lead, and a goal from Girolamo accomplished this. The next goal of the match also came from Binghamton when Adams connected with Ferris, who scored his third goal of the game. With the score at 9-7, the Red Foxes found twine twice to tie the game at nine. Both teams looked to get the final goal and win the match, but Marist succeeded, finding the back of the net to defeat Binghamton 10-9.

“We got to work on our stick work a little bit, thought we threw the ball away too much and obviously the clearing game is a big one, keep hitting on that,” McKeown said. “That’s what we told the guys in the locker room after the game, and that’ll be a big focus for us.”

Binghamton will look to get its first win of the season as they head to Hofstra University on Saturday, March 1. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York.

“I thought our guys battled hard and played with good energy,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We started winning more faceoffs in the third, but in the fourth, we couldn’t get a defensive stop. We didn’t win faceoffs, and things snowballed from there.”

The Bearcats (0-1) got on the board early to open up the match. In his first game since earning America East All-Rookie honors in 2024, sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo put Binghamton up 1-0 with an unassisted strike from the far side at the 11:56 mark. Lafayette (2-0), however, quickly responded with a goal of its own. Midway through the quarter, senior attack Dan Garone connected with graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris, who fired in his first goal of the season to put BU back ahead 2-1. The teams ultimately closed out the first quarter tied at three.

“[Girolamo and Ferris] work well together,” McKeown said. “Girolamo being a lefty and Ferris being a righty helps balance the field. They can both stretch the field with their shots. I thought they both played well tonight and will certainly be guys we count on moving forward.”

Lafayette shut out Binghamton in the second quarter after scoring twice in the first five minutes to take a 5-3 lead over the visitors. The Bearcats repeatedly attacked the Leopards’ net — the visitors fired off seven shot attempts throughout the quarter, but none found the back of the net.

“Credit to [Lafayette],” McKeown said. “They regained momentum at the faceoff. We had some momentum in the third, but they won a few draws and scored off transition. We didn’t get stops and didn’t have the ball much in the fourth.”

After winning the initial third-quarter faceoff, senior defender Lorenzo Ramos rattled off a shot for the Bearcats, but it was Lafayette who struck first to build a three-goal lead. The foes continued to trade goals, and a dime from sophomore midfielder Brady Sharkey to Ferris opened up a two-goal sequence that shrunk BU’s deficit to two. In the final four minutes of play, goals from junior midfielder Colin Delay and Garone tied the match up at seven. The Bearcats’ chance at retaking the lead slipped away, however, when the Leopards won the ensuing faceoff and punched it in to go up 8-to-7.

“[Sharkey] is a great lacrosse player,” McKeown said. “He plays a lot on the wings for us, has a really good I.Q. and understands the game well. Not a surprise there. He’s a guy we’ll lean on in the middle of the field to help us gain more possessions.”

At the beginning of the fourth period, the Bearcats once again got on the board, with sophomore attack Drew Filanowski firing his first collegiate goal in his first start to tie the game at eight. Just under two minutes later, Ferris found Girolamo, who fired a shot to secure his hat trick and give the Bearcats a 9-8 lead with 10:14 left in the quarter. That would be the last time Binghamton would find the back of the net, as they went on to give up eight goals in a fourth-quarter collapse, falling to the Leopards 16-9.

“We need to clear the ball better to support both our defense and offense,” McKeown said. “We also need to be more efficient in transition. We had a couple of good transition opportunities tonight that we didn’t capitalize on. Overall, we just need to be better in the middle of the field.”

Binghamton will look to get in the win column as they head to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Feb. 15. Faceoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Tom 80’ and Michelle Marra Athletics Field Complex in St. Bonaventure, New York.

The Bearcats had an up-and-down 2024 campaign, going 6-7 on the year with a 4-3 record in AE play. BU started its shaky season with a 2-5 record, while losing its opening conference match to Merrimack 10-9 in overtime. Despite the slow start, the Bearcats squad clicked into gear, moving to 2-1 in AE play with key wins over NJIT and UMass Lowell. BU continued its hot streak with an 11-10 overtime win over eventual AE runner-ups Vermont, and a 21-10 victory over UMBC in which the Bearcats tied the program record for goals in a game.

Heading into its final two games of the season, BU was tied for first place in the AE with a 4-1 conference play record, but a 17-11 loss against Bryant in its penultimate game sent BU into a win or go home regular season finale at AE leaders Albany.

Despite taking an early 3-1 lead in the match, the foes went into the second quarter of play with a 4-4 draw, and the Great Danes proceeded to outscore the Bearcats 6-3. With BU facing a 10-7 deficit in the second half, frustration mounted as Albany outscored BU 8-3 in the second half, ending Binghamton’s 2024 season. Despite finishing with a 4-3 record and holding a tie for the third spot in the AE, the Bearcats were eliminated by tiebreaker, as Merrimack and UMBC advanced to the AE playoffs ahead of BU.

After losing key starters like midfielder Sonny Imburgia, attacker Ethan Insinga and, most notably, attack Matthew Keegan, BU will look to its trio of AE preseason first-team members to find success in 2025. Leading the way for BU is senior goalkeeper Connor Winters, who was first named to the AE first-team in 2023 before finishing second in the AE in saves per game in 2024. Rounding out the AE preseason first-team selections for BU are graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris and senior defense Lorenzo Ramos, both of whom were named to the AE second-team in 2024.

Binghamton will also hope to see significant production from its other two all-conference honorees, AE all-rookie team sophomores attack Andrew Girolamo and midfield Jack Mellen, as well as a pool of 10 incoming freshmen and sophomore transfer Riley Jenkins.

Binghamton will host Lafayette to begin its 2025 season on Saturday, Feb. 8. Faceoff is set for noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team’s season came to an end Saturday night with an 10-18 loss to UAlbany. Binghamton got off to an early 4-2 lead, but UAlbany retook the lead early in the second quarter and held onto it for the rest of the game to secure the victory. Binghamton nearly qualified for the America East (AE) playoffs, but a tiebreak win saw Merrimack get the fourth and final seed.

“It was kind of a wild day,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “Maybe not thinking we would be in that do-or-die situation, obviously with how that afternoon game went, we ended up kind of being in a playoff game that night, so it was a weird range of emotions.”

The Great Danes (7-7, 6-1 AE) got on the scoreboard early with a goal in the first 33 seconds of play. BU (6-7, 4-3 AE) evened the score at one-all with a goal from senior attack/midfielder Liam Ferris and Binghamton soon grew its tally to three when junior attack Matthew Keegan and senior face-off Ross Chazanow both found the net. At the 3:53 mark, UAlbany cut BU’s lead to 1, but Keegan struck back, scoring his second goal of the night. The Great Danes scored twice in the final 54 seconds of the quarter and Binghamton headed into the second quarter tied 4-4.

“I think we came out with good energy and competed well,” McKeown said. “I just think UAlbany made some more key plays in key moments than we did and they were able to capture some momentum and we gave up a few too many goals in the first half … We kinda dug ourselves into a hole and they are a tough team to come back against.”

In the second quarter, the Bearcats got on the board first as Keegan found the back of the net for the third time. UAlbany responded with a three-goal run, taking a 7-5 lead over the Bearcats. Binghamton continued to attack the goal and freshman midfielder Jack Mellen lit up the scoreboard with his first goal of the night. The Great Danes continued their strong performance with a 3-1 run to end the second quarter, during which Mellen scored his second of the night. BU went into the third quarter down 10-7.

“I thought in the first half our offense played well,” McKeown said. “I thought [Chazanow] played really well in the first half, battled really well [and] scrapped really well. I thought our compete level was good. We came out with good energy — we just did not execute well enough.

The third quarter opened with a nearly four-minute scoring drought that Binghamton ended with a goal at the 11:04 mark, as Keegan found the back of the net for the fourth time. UAlbany went on a 3-0 run to end the quarter and BU entered the fourth quarter down 13-8.

“I thought we did okay there [on transition defense],” McKeown said. “We gave up two goals on transition and they’re a team that likes to push it. I think going from offense to defense, we did pretty well. But we gave up a couple of face-offs that ended up hurting us.”

The Great Danes got the scoring started in the fourth quarter, going on a 4-0 run to take a 17-8 lead over the Bearcats. The Bearcats responded by Ferris scoring his second of the night at the 7:49 mark. The Great Danes however, continued to maintain the momentum. Freshman attack Andrew Girolamo scored the final goal of the night for BU with 3:56 to play as the Bearcats fell to the Great Danes 18-10, ending their season.

“I just want to thank our seniors,” McKeown said. “That’s what I told the guys last night. They’re leaving our program in a better place. It felt like they deserved as a group, a better ending than we had last night. That’s the position we put ourselves in and unfortunately, we lost out on that tiebreaker situation, but they are a great senior group and they did a great job advancing our program forward.”

The loss cuts the Bearcats’ season short as they miss AE playoffs for the first time since 2021. Despite the loss, many Bearcats found individual success this season. Keegan led the team in goals with 34 on the year. Chazanow finished his Binghamton career with the third most total face-off victories at 348. Junior goalie Connor Winters finished tied for 15th in the nation in saves per game with 12.85.

One week after an emphatic 21-10 victory against UMBC, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team fell to Bryant 17-11 on senior day. After BU took an early 3-2 lead, Bryant went on a three-goal run to end the first. Bryant was able to maintain this lead for the rest of the game, handing the Bearcats their second loss of America East (AE) conference play.

“Hats off to Bryant for a well-played game,” wrote Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I thought they competed hard and did very well with their transition opportunities.”

Bryant (8-4, 4-2 AE) took an early lead, getting on the scoreboard first with a goal at the 13:57 mark. Less than 90 seconds later, Binghamton (6-6, 4-2 AE) got on the board as well when freshman midfielder Jack Mellen found twine. Both teams continued exchanging goals as the Bulldogs struck back to retake the lead at 2-1. The Bearcats responded quickly with consecutive goals from junior attack Matthew Keegan and senior attack Liam Ferris. However, Bryant closed out the quarter strong, finding the back of the net three more times to go into the second period with a 5-3 lead.

“I thought our ball movement was fantastic in the first quarter,” McKeown wrote. “We were dodging hard and had their defense moving. When they switched to zone it took the wind out of our sails and we didn’t adjust great.”

Bryant continued where it left off in the first quarter, opening the second quarter with a goal less than two minutes in. A minute and 40 seconds later, after a successful clear, junior attack Gage Adams put on between the pipes to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to two. After a few back-and-forth possessions between the teams Bryant grew their lead back to three with another goal. The Bearcats continued peppering the net, resulting in a goal, courtesy of senior attack Ethan Insinga. The Bulldogs closed out the second quarter with two more goals to take a 9-5 lead over BU going into the half.

“I thought in spurts our offense played really well,” McKeown wrote. “Our clearing game also was clicking.”

After a scoreless five minutes to open the second half, the Bulldogs got back on the board. Bryant then scored again with 5:50 left to play in the period to take an 11-5 lead over the Bearcats. Just 43 seconds later, BU found twine with a strike from Ferris, but Bryant continued its strong offensive performance, scoring two goals in the final minute and 16 seconds of play. BU trailed 13-6 entering the final quarter of play.

“One area we will look to improve on is our transition defense,” McKeown wrote. “We gave up way too many opportunities that resulted in goals for them.”

The fourth quarter opened with an offensive surge from the Bearcats, as Ferris and Keegan scored one and two goals to make it a 13-9 game with 11:29 to go. Bryant answered with two straight goals, and they quelled BU’s hopes of a comeback by holding them scoreless until the 3:52 mark when Mellen scored his second of the night. The game neared its end with Bryant and Binghamton trading goals, and Bryant secured the win with another goal in the final nine seconds of play to hand BU a 17-11 loss.

“We didn’t quite match [Bryant’s] level,” McKeown wrote. “Hopefully we will get a chance to see them again in the postseason.”

Ferris recorded his third consecutive and sixth hat trick this season while Keegan registered his second consecutive and fifth hat trick of the season in the loss.

“[UAlbany] is a team who always plays and competes well in the middle of the field [in transition, riding and clearing],” McKeown wrote. “So that will be a big point for us going into a big week of practice ”

BU will conclude its AE slate against UAlbany on Saturday, April 27, looking to stay in contention for a spot in the AE playoffs. First face-off is set for 7 p.m. at Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, New York.

After defeating Vermont 11-10 in overtime last week, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team extended its winning streak to four games with a 21-10 win over UMBC on Saturday afternoon. After a back and forth start, BU captured the lead late in the first quarter and didn’t look back. Nine Bearcats combined for 21 goals — tying the program record.

“First off, I think our competition level was really high,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We did a great job in practice the week prior, and I think it carried over to the game. I just thought we competed really hard and made up for some of our mistakes with that, but the offense played really well.”

UMBC [4-5, 232 America East (AE)] won the first face-off, UMBC scored the first goal of the match off of a rebound. Binghamton (6-5, 4-1 AE) bounced back quickly with a two goals — one from freshman midfielder Jack Mellen, and another from junior attack Matthew Keegan. However, the Retrievers then scoring two consecutive goals to retake the lead at 3-2. This lead was short-lived as the Bearcats ended the quarter with two more goals from Keegan and senior attack Ethan Insinga to bring the score to 4-3.

“I thought the guys were just playing really, really, selflessly,” McKeown said. “So, I’m excited to see that, and hopefully, we can continue to do that as we move forward.”

Binghamton and UMBC traded goals to begin the second half. With the Bearcats now leading 5-4, they scored four unanswered goals. This started with junior attack Gage Adams finding the back of the net. Twelve seconds later, freshman attack Andrew Girolamo got the ball from senior face-off Ross Chazanow, and put the ball away for BU’s seventh goal of the game. With 38 seconds left in the half, Girolamo fed the ball to Keegan for his third goal of the game as he completed his hat trick. Adams capped off the first half scoring with another goal to give Binghamton a 9-4 going into halftime.

“It’s great to spread [the ball] around like that,” McKeown said. “[Girolamo] is a freshman who has started getting [the ball] more and more. In the past, three to four games, he did a great job feeding. So, I thought the offense, was moving the ball really well and seeing the field well.”

Coming out of halftime, for the first 10 minutes, BU and UMBC traded goals as the Bearcats retained a 13-7 lead. Binghamton then went on a three-goal run as Keegan, Adams and senior attack/midfielder Liam Ferris all scored to bring it to 16-7. With two seconds left in the quarter, UMBC got one past junior goalie Connor Winters, ending the third quarter trailing 16-8.

“We tied our program record for goals with 21, [with] 13 of those being assisted,” McKeown said. “I think percentage-wise, it was the most amount of assisted goals we’ve had this year. We moved the ball really well and, the guys did a great job of finding [each other].”

During the fourth quarter, with all the momentum, BU continued to control the game. Binghamton scored the first five goals of the quarter to make it a 21-8 game. UMBC scored twice in the final minutes to make it 21-10, but it was too little, too late, as the Bearcats secured a dominant 21-10 victory.

“The unselfishness offensively, how we passed it — that’ll [continue] to be a focus,” McKeown said. “I think we have to tighten up a little bit defensively — and we haven’t watched a lot of Bryant yet — but certainly know that they’re a really good team. [Bryant] had beaten us twice last year — once in the playoffs, so I think it’ll be a battle and certainly a big one to be able to get to potentially start secure post-season birth.”

Nine different Bearcats put points on the board, including five with multiple goals and four earning hat tricks. With the victory, Binghamton remains in a tie for first place with two games left in AE play.

BU will host Bryant for senior day on Saturday, April 20. First face-off is set for 12 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

One week after a resounding 15-6 victory against UMass Lowell, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team picked up its third straight America East (AE) win Saturday afternoon, defeating Vermont in overtime. After taking an early 2-0 lead, BU found themselves down 8-5 at halftime. However, Binghamton outscored Vermont 5-2 in the second half to force overtime. With the game knotted at 10, an overtime goal from junior attack Gage Adams gave BU an 11-10 win over the Catamounts.

“I was pleased with the outcome,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I thought our guys competed really well, especially in the second half. We competed well in the first half too, but we were a little sloppy with the ball, turning it over and giving up a couple second chance opportunities.”

Binghamton (5-5, 3-1 AE) struck first with a goal from senior midfielder Liam Ferris. Less than 30 seconds later, BU’s lead grew to 2-0 as freshman midfielder Jack Mellen found twine. Then, within a minute, at the 10:10 mark, Vermont (4-7, 2-2 AE) got on the scoreboard. The Catamounts kept the ball rolling, scoring two more goals to take a 3-2 lead going into the second quarter.

“I think sometimes we maybe could take a few less [shots] to work for some better ones,” McKeown said. “But the chemistry is getting better offensively as time goes on.”

Vermont continued where it left off from in the first quarter, opening the second quarter with two more unanswered goals as BU trailed 5-2. At the 9:35 mark in the quarter, junior attack Matthew Keegan capitalized on a man-up opportunity and soon after Ferris cut the Catamounts lead to one with BU’s second man-up goal. However, Vermont continued to put pressure on Binghamton, finding the net two more times before the half. The Bearcats and Catamounts traded goals to end the half as BU trailed 8-5 going into halftime.

“They won a couple face-offs during that stretch,” McKeown said. “They had a couple looks offensively that we adjusted to well as the game went along. I think the guys settled in and just stayed the course and kept competing.”

The third quarter opened with a five-minute scoring drought. Binghamton ended this drought with three consecutive goals, starting with Adams scoring his second goal of the game. The Bearcats continued to pepper the Vermont goal with shots, tying the game at 8-8 thanks to goals from Ferris and Keegan. BU controlled possession during their scoring run with face-off wins after each of their three goals and they continued to protect the net, forcing Vermont into a 13-minute goalless drought. Nonetheless, the Catamounts got back on the board at the 2:23 mark in the quarter to take a 9-8 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“It’s huge to have possession in our sport,” McKeown said. “I think the momentum, especially when you make a couple of big-time saves at the end of the game, that gives the team confidence and you know that we can pull this one out.”

The fourth quarter began yet again with a six-minute scoring drought as both teams maintained strong defensive performances. Vermont broke the stalemate, scoring again to take a 10-8 advantage with 8:39 left. In the next four minutes of play, Binghamton tied the game up at 10 as Ferris and freshman attack Andrew Girolamo each buried one in Vermont’s goal. The Bearcats were not able to attempt a shot in the final five minutes of regulation, but pivotal saves from junior goalie Connor Winters forced overtime.

The overtime period lasted 63 seconds, with BU winning the initial face-off. The Catamounts were nearly able to force a turnover on the first possession, but a ground ball from Ferris secured the Bearcats possession and set up a shot from Adams that bounced straight into the back of the Catamounts net, securing an 11-10 win for Binghamton.

“With three weeks left, there’s still a little less than half of conference play left,” McKeown said. “We’re kind of focused on one at a time. We know that if we take care of our business, we’ll end up where we want to be, which is the postseason.”

Winters had a season-high 18 saves, extending his streak of 10+ saves to nine-games. Two Bearcats had hat tricks in the game, with Adams scoring three and Ferris setting a career-high of four goals.

“On the defensive end, letting [Vermont] get eight goals in the first half, I think we tightened some things up in the second half,” McKeown said. “[Winters] came up huge with some really big-time saves.”

BU will continue its AE slate against UMBC on Saturday, April 13. First face-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

After falling to Merrimack 10-9 in overtime in its opening game of America East (AE) play, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team defeated NJIT 17-12 to pick up its first win of conference play. Despite trailing 8-7 at halftime, BU outscored NJIT 10-4 in the second half to secure a 17-12 victory over the Highlanders.

“I thought we came out with great energy,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We were a little sloppy in the first half with the ball in the middle of the field, but I thought in the second half we came out a little bit cleaner, we still had good energy and we were able to take care of the ball a little bit better.”

NJIT (7-2, 0-2 AE) scored the first goal within their first 90 seconds of play to take an early lead. Just over a minute later, Binghamton (3-5, 1-1 AE) responded junior attack Gage Adams found the back of the net. The Highlanders and Bearcats traded scores until the Bearcats scored back-to-back goals in the final 3:08 — courtesy of senior midfielder Ethan Insinga. The Bearcats entered the second quarter with a 6-4 lead.

“I thought my guys were patient offensively,” McKeown said. “We didn’t take the first shot available. We worked for good opportunities, and the ball was moving really well today.”

To open the second quarter, NJIT scored two straight goals to tie the game at six. At the 6:59 mark in the period, Binghamton retook the lead with a goal from junior attack Matthew Keegan. However, the Highlanders continued to pepper Binghamton’s net, coming back with two scores in the next three minutes to regain the lead. Going into halftime, the Bearcats trailed 8-7.

“We did a good job starting on the offensive end,” McKeown said. “[Junior goalie Connor Winters] did a great job on goal. [Senior face-off Ross Chazanow], after not having a great first half, came out and did a really nice job scraping in the second half.”

Coming out of the half, Binghamton went on a two-goal run as Adams and senior midfielder Liam Ferris each found the back of the net to make it a 9-8 game. The Highlanders soon scored on their second man-up opportunity, tying the game up at 9-9. However, Binghamton then went on a 4-1 run to retake the lead. Two goals from Keegan, as well as one from both sophomore attack Colin Delay and junior midfielder Thomas Kelly, powered Binghamton to a 13-10 lead over NJIT entering the fourth quarter.

“The biggest thing we emphasized was the fundamentals,” McKeown said. “At halftime, we wanted to make sure we took care of the ball a little bit better. There was a lot of rain. It was a really wet day, so things got a little sloppier out there for both teams, so we wanted to make sure we could play through the conditions. I thought our defense tightened up a little bit. We played a little bit of zone defense in the second half, and I think that helped us out a little bit.”

The fourth quarter opened with a goal from NJIT in the first minute of play, cutting Binghamton’s lead to two at 13-11. The Bearcats responded with two goals from Adams and Keegan, padding a four-goal lead with 13 minutes to play. After a Highlander goal at the 10:56 mark, Binghamton closed out the game with a 2-0 run — courtesy of goals from freshman attack Andrew Girolamo and Ferris — to cement a 17-12 victory over NJIT.

“I think [going forward] we need to take care of the ball and not be reckless with it, making sure we’re clearing it the first time and continuing to develop offensively,” McKeown said. “I think this was our best shooting game, and we want to make sure that we’re more on the ball.”

Binghamton scored 17 goals, a season-high, with Girolamo scoring his first collegiate goal. Winters continued his eight-game streak with 10+ saves. Three Bearcats had hat tricks in the game, with Insinga, Adams and Keegan scoring three, four and five goals, respectively.

BU will continue its AE slate against UMass Lowell on Saturday, March 30. First face-off is set for 12 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“I thought we did a great job battling in the last three quarters,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I think we responded to a 6-0 lead, in any conference game that’s gonna be tough, so I’m proud of the way we fought back, but we were disappointed with how the game started for us.”

Merrimack (3-5, 1-0 AE) scored the first goal within their first minute of play to take an early lead. Binghamton (2-5, 0-1 AE) only got off six shots in the first quarter, and was unable to find the back of the net. The Warriors went on to net three more goals in the period without a response from the Bearcats to take a 4-0 lead going into the second quarter.

“I thought we did a good job of changing up how we were shooting and changing plans on the [Merrimack] goalie,” said McKeown. “[Merrimack’s] goalie started off really hot, so we just needed to get some plays in order to start building some momentum. Unfortunately, that happened pretty late so we weren’t able to come up with the win.”

To open up the second quarter, Merrimack scored two more goals to grow their lead to 6-0. At the 5:03 mark in the period, Binghamton stopped the bleeding with a goal from sophomore attack Colin Delay. Binghamton added two more goals starting with senior attack Liam Ferris finding the back of the net. Shortly after, with BU utilizing its second man-up opportunity, junior attack Matthew Keegan scored to cut Merrimack’s lead to 6-3 going into halftime.

“We always want to start our offense with good hard dodges, which makes their defense slide or at least compact a bit,” said McKeown. ‘I think we did a good job playing off of that and finding some high percentage opportunities.”

Coming out of the half, Binghamton made it a four-goal run as junior midfielder Thomas Kelly found twine at the 11:05 mark. Not long after, the visitors got back on the board to retain a three-goal lead over Binghamton. A minute later, the Bearcats capitalized on their fourth man-up opportunity of the game with Ferris scoring his second goal of the game. With 31 seconds left in the quarter, senior midfielder Ethan Insinga took advantage of a quick clearance from Binghamton’s defense and cut Merrimack’s lead to one, as the Bearcats entered the fourth quarter down 7-6.

“We played great team defense,” said McKeown. “[It was] as good as we have played defensively [this year]. [Junior goalie Connor Winters] came up with some big saves when there were some gaps there, and [Merrimack] got some good opportunities, so I’m proud of the way we played there. When you go down that much you need to do it on both ends of the field, it started with the stops, and we were able to carry that momentum into some great goals.”

The fourth period opened with six shots from the Bearcats and five from the Warriors. The stalemate was broken with 7:05 left in the period after junior attack Gage Adams scored with an assist from Delay to tie the game at seven. Merrimack soon regained the lead with a goal of its own. Six seconds later, after winning the face-off, senior face-off Ross Chazanow, scored to tie the game at eight. The back and forth continued as Merrimack scored with 2:19 left. However, Adams found the back of the net during the final minute of regulation to tie it at 9-9 and force overtime.

The sudden death overtime period lasted just 34 seconds. After Merrimack won the initial face-off, the visitors scored on their first possession to win the match over Binghamton 10-9.

“We’re gonna make sure we continue to push forward, and we want to make sure we get those good starts,” said McKeown. “I think good starts in practice can lead to good starts in games, so we’ll make sure the guys are fresh and ready to go next Saturday.”

Binghamton allowed just three goals off of 21 shots in the second half after facing an early deficit. Winters continued his seven-game streak with 10+ saves. Two Bearcats had multiple goals in the game with Adams and Ferris each scoring twice.

BU will continue its AE slate against NJIT on Saturday, March 23. First face-off is set for 1 p.m. at Lubetkin Field in Newark, New Jersey.

Four days after winning 13-12 in overtime against Mount St. Mary’s, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team concluded its four-game road stretch in Queens, New York on Saturday, falling 13-6 to St. John’s. After leading 4-3 going into halftime, the Bearcats were outscored 10-2 in the second half as they fell to the Red Storm.

“I think overall as a team we got to do some things better to connect the dots in certain ways,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown.

In the first four minutes, Binghamton (2-4) got on the board with a goal from by junior attack Gage Adams off an assist by junior attack Matthew Keegan. St. John’s (2-6) response came soon after, as they went on to score back to back goals — just a minute apart. Then, 30 seconds later, senior attack Liam Ferris netted another goal for the Bearcats, knotting the contest at two. The final 8:33 remained scoreless as the game remained tied at two going at the end of the first quarter.

“We played relatively well defensively throughout the game,” McKeown said. “Our riding game was good and getting the ball back versus their clear.”

The Bearcats came out aggressive in second quarter, attempting eight shots on goal in St. John’s territory during the first eight minutes of the quarter. Then, taking advantage of an extra man opportunity, the tie was finally broken as Ferris scored his second goal of the game to put Binghamton ahead 3-2. Nearly three minutes later, Adams scored a goal to make it a 4-2 game. The Red Storm nabbed one final goal as the second quarter winded down, cutting Binghamton’s lead to 4-3 going into halftime.

“I think offensively we created some good opportunities at times that we just didn’t finish well,” McKeown said.

Coming out of halftime, St John’s built on the momentum it gained at the end of the first half. The Red Storm scored four unanswered goals to take a 7-4 lead over the Bearcats. At the 4:44 mark, the Bearcats found their first and only score of the half as sophomore midfielder Will Feldman cut the St. John’s lead to 7-5 going into the final quarter.

“We kind of never really got the ball rolling and got good enough goals going our way the second half,” McKeown said.

The Bearcats made it a one goal game, nearly five minutes into the fourth quarter as Ferris scored his third goal of the game and completed his hat trick to bring the score to 7-6. However, the Red Storm came right back, winning the face-off and scoring to extend its lead back to two. After this point, St. John’s offense dominated the rest of the match, scoring five more goals in the quarter while BU was kept off the board. When it was all said and done, the Bearcats suffered a 13-6 defeat at the hands of the Red Storm.

“[We will] figure out who to play and get guys out there that are going to compete and work to get that first conference win,” McKeown said.

The Bearcats will return to play at home against Merrimack on Saturday, March 16. First face-off is set for 12 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

On Saturday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team traveled to Easton, Pennsylvania, to take on Lafayette, falling short in the contest 19-12. After, the Bearcats found themselves down 6-1 after the first quarter, the Leopards continued their consistent offensive scoring for the rest of the match as BU was unable to recover from the early deficit.

“Maybe we could have switched to zone a little bit earlier,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We did that in the second half — we had a couple of failed clears in there that led to a goal or two [and] a couple of penalties that led to a goal or two. I don’t know if it was any one specific thing. We made some mistakes, and we didn’t get a break from playing defense just because they were scoring and winning some face-offs as well.”

Lafayette (3-1) started the match off with an extra-man opportunity in the first minute of play. The Leopards converted during their first man-up opportunity and scored again less than a minute later, taking a 2-0 lead. The Bearcats (1-2) got on the scoreboard just over the 10-minute mark, thanks to a goal from junior attack Matthew Keegan. Binghamton and Lafayette traded shots for the next three minutes until Lafayette scored its third goal of the game and then embarked on a 4-0 run to end the quarter with a 6-1 lead.

“I think it’s more the fact of just getting them the ball,” McKeown said. “Maybe we weren’t getting stops defensively. We didn’t win a few face-offs, and we didn’t have the possession that we needed.”

The second quarter began with more of the same for the Bearcats. Lafayette got on the board first with two back-to-back goals in the first three minutes to go up 8-1. Senior attack Liam Ferris opened the scoring for Binghamton with a goal assisted by Keegan to cut the deficit to six goals. The rest of the quarter saw both teams trade goals, with Ferris netting his second goal of the game and junior attack Gage Adams landing his first of the game. Junior attack Dan Garone netted his lone goal in the game with two seconds to go in the half to cut the Lafayette lead to 12-5 heading into halftime.

“I thought we settled for a few low-angle opportunities earlier in the game that weren’t great shot opportunities,” McKeown said. “I think shot selection is something that we talk about and work on.”

The second half opened with stronger defensive performances from both teams, with no goals scored in roughly the first five minutes of play. Lafayette broke the stalemate, bringing the score to 13-5 in their favor, before Ferris scored his third goal of the game, completing the hat trick. Sophomore attack Colin DeLay scored his first goal of the game soon after, cutting the Leopard’s lead to six. Lafayette responded with two straight goals to end the quarter, entering the fourth quarter with a 15-7 lead.

“I thought our offense actually played pretty well,” McKeown said. “I think we had better ball movement, especially in the second half when we were dodging really well. I just think we didn’t get enough stops defensively, [and] we failed too many clears.”

The fourth quarter opened with Lafayette scoring the first goal of the quarter just over a minute in. Binghamton, however, fought back early on with three straight goals from three different Bearcats. Graduate student midfielder Sonny Imburgia scored his sole goal of the match and sophomore midfielder Will Feldmann scored his first goal of the season. DeLay also added his second goal of the game. The rest of the period consisted of both teams trading goals, with Adams and Keegan each scoring their second goals of the match. However, this was not enough as the Leopards came out on top 19-12.

“I thought our offense played well, and I think our riding game was positive,” McKeown said. “I thought we competed there and stopped them on some clearing opportunities. We did some good things there, [and] I think that’s something we’re going to continue to build on and something that can continue to be a part of our game.”

Ferris, Adams, DeLay and Keegan all scored multiple goals in the losing effort. In addition, Ferris scored his first collegiate hat trick.

Binghamton will continue its four-game road stretch, taking on Richmond on Saturday, March 2. First face-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.

On Saturday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team hosted St. Bonaventure for its home opener, narrowly escaping with a 13-12 win in overtime. After scoring the first two goals of the game, the Bearcats gave up five unanswered goals. They were not able to recover from that deficit until late in the fourth quarter when BU managed to tie the contest, before junior attack Matthew Keegan found twine for the game-winning score in overtime.

“It was certainly a wild one,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We knew it was going to be a battle. [St. Bonaventure is] a really tough team. They play hard. It was a battle last year, and not a surprise it was another battle again this year.”

In the first five minutes, the Bearcats (1-1) put up two goals, one from graduate student defender Declan Ferris and the other from sophomore attack Colin Delay. However, soon after, St. Bonaventure (0-2) responded with a 5-0 run to take a 5-2 lead. Finally, with less than a minute to go in the first quarter, Binghamton answered, stopping the bleeding, with a goal from junior attack Dan Garone, making the first quarter score 5-3.

“I thought we missed the cage a little bit,” McKeown said. “[We] maybe settled for some shots that [could have been] better ones.”

Opening the second quarter, the game went back and forth between the two teams. Keegan captured the first goal of the quarter for BU to make it a 5-4 game. The rest of the period saw both teams trade goals with senior attack Liam Ferris finding the back of the net to cut the St. Bonaventure lead to 8-6 going into halftime. The weather was a factor throughout the entire game, as snowstorms and high winds kept coming into the Vestal area.

“We’re not strangers to [bad weather],” McKeown said. “I know St. Bonaventure isn’t stranger to it. I think it contributes to maybe a little bit of the sloppiness and some of the turnovers.”

Both teams continued back and forth to start the third quarter. The Bearcats scored three times in the quarter, with a St. Bonaventure goal coming in between each Binghamton score. The Bearcat goals came from Ferris, Keegan and graduate student midfielder Sonny Imburgia. However, BU’s deficit remained the same at the end of the third period, with the Bonnies holding an 11-9 lead over the Bearcats.

Going into the fourth period, BU started off strong as Garone and Keegan found twine to tie the game at 11. With three minutes left the regulation, St. Bonaventure scored, grabbing a 12-11 lead. Yet, less than a minute later, the Bearcats responded with a goal from Garone. Then, with 31 seconds left in the game, Keegan took a shot that hit the crossbar as the match went into overtime. However, the game didn’t last much longer. BU won the face-off, and Ferris got the ball to Keegan, who shot the ball and scored the game-winner as the Bearcats completed the comeback to secure a 13-12 win.

“It was an unbelievable feeling,” Keegan said. “[I’m] super proud of the guys. We battled back [and] faced a lot of adversity that game, but it is always super exciting to scrape a tough one out like that.”

Binghamton now begins a four-game road stretch starting next against Lafayette on Saturday, Feb. 24. First face-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Fisher Stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Coming off of a 2023 campaign where they finished third in the America East (AE) and earned a trip to the AE semifinals, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team kicked off its season on Saturday with a 9-8 loss against Jacksonville. After a close game where the two teams were constantly within one goal of overtaking each other, the Bearcats fell short, as they were defeated by one in their season opener.

“We competed well,” said Binghamton Head Coach Kevin McKeown. “But there are things to clean up on each side of the ball … It’s a starting point, but we are going to continue to improve.”

Senior attack/midfielder Liam Ferris, a transfer from Syracuse, started the scoring early for BU (0-1) with an unassisted goal 35 seconds into the match. His early score was answered five minutes later with three quick goals by the Dolphins (1-0). Graduate student midfielder Sonny Imburgia then cut the Jacksonville lead to one with a goal of his own, as the BU trailed 3-2 at the end of one period. This was a sign for things to come, as each team continued to trade goals throughout the game.

“The first quarter, we were still getting our feet wet,” McKeown said. “We gave up a few opportunities that we shouldn’t have, but [junior goalie Connor Winters] made some really great saves and bailed us out a couple of times.’’

Winters’ strong defensive play continued in the second quarter, as he only allowed two goals to keep Binghamton within striking distance. About halfway through the second period, however, the Bearcats found themselves down three goals, but they quickly cut into the Dolphin’s 5-2 lead after junior attack Matthew Keegan and Ferris both found twine to make it a 5-4 game.

“Those are moments where you can either pack it in or keep fighting, and I thought our guys did a good job in continuing to fight,” McKeown said.

To begin the third period, senior midfielder Trey Sofield buried the ball in the back of the net to tie the game at 5-5. Despite several shot attempts on both sides, the rest of the period remained scoreless as neither team was able to get on the board. The game remained deadlocked at five heading into the final period.

“We had the ball with a minute left and a full shot clock, and we were also a man up,” McKeown said. “So it really felt like we were right there — only a couple of plays away [from tying the game].”

The Dolphins broke the tie, scoring two goals in the first minute of the final period to take a 7-5 lead. However, the Bearcats stayed in it as junior attack Gage Adams scored to make it a one goal game. After trading goals once again, the Bearcats trailed 9-7 until senior midfielder Aaron Tebo scored with two minutes remaining to bring the Bearcats to within one score. Despite Binghamton’s best efforts late in the game, Jacksonville maintained its lead, as the BU dropped the first game of its 2024 campaign.

“Offensively, we were able to generate 44 shots,” McKeown said. “I think we had some good looks, but I think our shot selection needs to improve and also finish the opportunities that we had. Defensively, we gave away a lot on the transition. They were able to gain a lot of momentum from a couple of goals in transition after the face-off.”

In his debut, Ferris led the Bearcats’ offense, adding two goals in the losing effort. Defensively, Winters finished the contest with 13 saves.

Binghamton will look for its first win of the season against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Feb. 17. First face-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

BU rounded out their regular season campaign with a 9-5 record, going 5-2 during AE conference play. Their efforts helped punch their ticket to the AE playoffs as the third seed, where the squad faced off against second-seeded Bryant in their AE semifinal matchup. The Bearcats would be wrapped up in a slugfest with the Bulldogs, constantly matching Bryant’s offensive pace to keep things tight toward the end. Despite this, Binghamton would be unable to find the equalizing goal in the final stretch of the game and were eliminated in a 12-11 loss.

Leading the program in his eighth year at the helm is Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown, taking the point of a squad projected to finish fourth in the AE preseason coaches’ poll. The team will feature a mix of returning core players alongside 11 newcomers to BU. Headlining the roster are returning AE first team all conference selections, junior attack Matthew Keegan, who led the conference in both goals and points per game last season, and junior goalie Connor Winters, who led the set the Binghamton program record with 194 saves last year.

The Bearcats will open up their campaign on the road against Jacksonville on Saturday, Feb. 10. Face-off is set for 12 p.m. at Tierney Field in Sparks Glencoe, Maryland.

“Really proud of the way the guys fought,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We asked for them to give a little more at halftime — to be able to do better on ground balls — I thought we buckled down defensively and gave it our best shot there, but just came up a little bit short there.”

BU (9-5, 5-2 AE) opened the game stagnant offensively as Bryant (11-4, 5-2 AE) took advantage and struck first, scoring two goals less than four minutes in. The Bearcats responded as sophomore attack Matthew Keegan got on the board off an assist from redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt. Neither team had success on offense for the next five minutes until the Bulldogs scored their third goal of the game. Binghamton responded with three unanswered goals to take a one score advantage. However, Bryant snuck a goal with 17 seconds left in the quarter to tie the game going into the second frame.

“[Keegan] and [Greenblatt] were a great one-two punch,” McKeown said. “I think either one of them could’ve been offensive player of the year, but good to see [Greenblatt] get that and [break] the assist record at the school. So I think both of those guys were huge pieces that play great off one another. They’re great people and great leaders on our program.”

The Bulldogs found the back of the net first in the second period, scoring 35 seconds in. Shortly after, senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara brought the score even once again. Despite the back-and-forth nature of the game, Bryant took control for the remainder of the half, outscoring the Bearcats 5-2 as Binghamton entered the break, down 9-6.

“[Bryant] was able to win a couple of faceoffs quick and got the ball back,” McKeown said. “They’re a team that does go on runs, and we saw that in our first game against them and we’ve seen that in other games of theirs this year.”

Facing a three-goal deficit heading into the second half, BU immediately got to work as junior midfielder Ethan Insinga netted a goal two minutes into the period. Greenblatt made it a one-score game and Insinga knotted it up to cap a three-goal run by the Bearcats. The Bulldogs’ one and only goal of the quarter came with just under three minutes remaining as they took a one-goal cushion heading into the final frame.

“We definitely wanted to limit transition looks,” McKeown said. “[Bryant] got a few of those in the first half, so that was one thing. We wanted to make sure we were helping when we needed to. It felt like in the first half we didn’t do that quite enough so that’s what we wanted to look to do [in the second half].”

In the fourth quarter, O’Hara managed to tie the game at 10 less than two minutes into the frame. However, the Bulldogs answered with two consecutive scores to take the lead once again. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Adams found the back of the net to make it a one-score game. In a last-ditch effort to send the game to overtime, the Bearcats had one last chance in the final minute. Despite getting three shots, including one that hit the post, Binghamton could not secure the equalizer as it fell short 12-11.

Insinga led the scoring with a hat trick while O’Hara, Keegan and Adams both added two goals apiece. Greenblatt added one and tallied two assists in the process. Sophmore goalie Connor Winters was between the pipes for BU and accumulated nine saves.

“I’m proud of them,” McKeown said. “They put themselves in positions to make some plays, hit a couple of pipes, just came up one play short, unfortunately.”

The loss ends Binghamton’s season in the AE semifinals for the second consecutive year in a row. Nonetheless, there were many accolades earned by the Bearcats this season. Greenblatt broke the program’s single-season assist record en route to being selected as AE Player of the Year. Additionally, Greenblatt, along with Keegan and Winters, were selected to the All-Conference First Team. Keegan led the conference in goals and points per game, while also ranking tied for seventh in the nation with 3.36 goals per game.

“In terms of overall success, it was a good step forward for us,” McKeown said. “But unfortunately, we kind of ended at the same spot as we did last year with a one-goal loss in the semifinals. We just gotta use that as another learning experience and continue to propel ourselves, continue to tell the story of Binghamton and our program. I think we still have a few more mountains to climb, and I think the future’s bright here.”

“[Winters] has been there for us all year with some big end-of-the-fourth-quarter saves,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I’m certainly glad [Winters] was able to do it again today for us.”

Throughout much of the first quarter, BU (9-4, 5-2 AE) and the Great Danes (5-9, 4-3 AE) went back and forth, trading goals as Albany led 3-2 with just over five minutes left in the quarter. Not long after, the Bearcats went on a 3-0 run with sophomore attack Matthew Keegan adding two goals and senior midfielder Nicholas Imburgia adding a goal of his own, which gave the home team a 5-3 advantage. Each team then scored once more in the quarter, as Binghamton headed into the second quarter leading 6-4.

“We always talk about setting the tone from the first whistle,” McKeown said. “I thought we did a good job there. The offense was moving the ball well early. [Albany] stuck some of those shots. We had six [goals] in the first quarter, so it’s a good way to start.”

In the second quarter, the Bearcats got on the board first as redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt found the back of the net, building on the momentum that stemmed from the end of the first quarter. After Albany added a goal of its own, Binghamton scored two straight goals, both coming from sophomore attack Gage Adams, making it 9-5. With under five minutes left in the half, the Great Danes scored two unanswered goals at the end of the second period, which narrowed Binghamton’s lead to 9-7 going into the half.

“I thought we battled well there today,” McKeown said. “We got hot and then they switched their guys up a little bit and kind of stemmed the momentum there. So it was a little bit more even as the game went on.”

The third quarter opened with another two consecutive goals from the Great Danes which tied the game at nine. Not long after, both teams traded scores to make the game 10-10. Binghamton bounced back from their slow second-half start with three goals — one from Greenblatt and two from junior midfielder Ethan Insinga — in the last 10 minutes of the quarter compared to Albany’s one goal in that timespan. Going into the final frame, Binghamton found themselves up 13-11.

Binghamton got the scoring started in the fourth quarter as Keegan and Adams both found the back of the net to put the Bearcats up 15-11. However, the Great Danes made a late comeback late in the quarter as they scored three consecutive goals to cut Binghamton’s lead to just one with a little more than a minute to play. Despite Albany’s best efforts in the closing minutes, the Bearcats never relinquished their lead and secured a 15-14 win, finishing AE conference play with a 5-2 record and clinching the No. 3 seed in the AE tournament.

“I did feel like we were starting to pull away a little bit there in the fourth,” McKeown said. “[Then] they got some possessions, won a couple face-offs and scored some quick ones … We felt like it might be a game where whoever can outscore each other would win and thankfully we had one more [goal] than they did.”

Binghamton will face No. 2 seeded Bryant in the AE semifinals, looking to get its revenge, after falling to them in AE conference play, on Thursday, May 4. First face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Virtue Field in Burlington, Vermont.

“Obviously it’s disappointing,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We had a chance to separate ourselves in the standings there. I thought we played hard. We probably could have finished some warmer opportunities on the offensive end. Defensively, we let them go on a roll there in the second quarter, and I thought a lot of that was the result of some stuff between the lines.”

In the first quarter, the scoring started immediately after the faceoff when junior midfielder Ethan Insinga picked up a ground ball near Bryant’s (9-3, 5-1 AE) goal, converting on a shot and giving BU (8-4, 4-2 AE) a 1-0 lead just fifteen seconds into the game. Insinga scored another goal a few minutes later, extending Binghamton’s early lead. However, starting a little more than halfway through the quarter, Bryant went on a four-goal run to end the frame with a 4-2 lead.

The second quarter began with BU and Bryant trading the first three goals of the period. Both of BU’s goals came from senior midfielder Nicholas Imburgia, the second goal on an assist from redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt. Greenblatt’s assist tied Binghamton’s single-season assist record at 30. After the even scoring at the beginning of the quarter, Bryant went on a run that consisted of five unanswered goals. The half ended with Bryant, in the middle of their run, holding a 10-4 lead over BU.

“They just got momentum in the middle of the field,” McKeown said. “The second two [goals in Bryant’s run] were right off the faceoff. We knew [Bryant] were dangerous in terms of scoring off the faceoff going in, and I thought we could have done a little better job at getting those transition opportunities.”

After Bryant added two more goals at the beginning of the third quarter, the momentum shifted toward Binghamton throughout the rest of the period. The Bearcats went on a three-goal run of their own, with goals from Greenblatt, and senior midfielders Patrick Murad and Dylan Braddock. By the end of the third quarter, Binghamton managed to cut into Bryant’s lead, however, the Bulldogs still led 12-7.

There was very little action from both offenses to begin the fourth quarter until Bryant scored and extended its lead. Less than a minute after, sophomore attack Matthew Keegan scored on an assist from Greenblatt to break Binghamton’s single-season assist record. After that, Binghamton scored another goal to make it 13-9. Both teams traded goals after that, but at the end of the frame, Binghamton ultimately fell 14-10.

“Defensively I felt like we needed to slide a bit more,” McKeown said. “And I thought we shored that up a bit in the second half, you know. We only gave up four goals. One of them was at the end when we pulled our goalie and doubled the ball. So, I thought we improved defensively in the second half and just overall.”

With a loss against Bryant, Binghamton has moved to third place in the AE standings. With this loss, BU will need to beat Albany at home next week in its regular season finale to keep its current spot in the AE standings. If the Bearcats win next week, they will face Bryant again in the conference semifinal.

Binghamton will conclude AE conference play at home game against Albany on Saturday, April 29. First faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“I don’t know if it was our best game overall, but we scrapped,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We kept fighting. I thought we shot the ball very well. I’m proud of the way we battled and gutted out a big road win in conference.”

After winning the opening faceoff, senior faceoff Matthew DeSouza picked up a ground ball, ran it down the field and found the back of the net to get BU (8-3, 4-1 AE) on the board in the first 15 seconds. However, only two minutes after Binghamton’s opening goal, the Retrievers (7-4, 2-3 AE) tied it up. Going into the second period, the score was tied at two apiece as both teams kept play even by grabbing another goal each.

“I thought both teams were maybe just a little flat,” McKeown said. “I thought we both kind of worked out of that in the second quarter.”

The second period saw much more action as Binghamton opened the scoring with three consecutive goals, coming from sophomore attacks Matthew Keegan and Gage Adams along with junior midfielder Ethan Insinga. The run allowed the Bearcats to take a 5-2 lead over the Retrievers. UMBC would stop this run temporarily, adding a goal of their own to cut the deficit to two. However, Binghamton continued its offensive prowess, adding two more consecutive goals to go up 7-3. The Retrievers managed to keep things close, finding the back of the net two more times before the end of the period. Going into halftime, the Bearcats led 7-5.

“I’m proud of the way the guys fought,” McKeown said. “We had some adversity go against us in the second half where they got after us on ground balls a bit, [UMBC] started winning some faceoffs.”

UMBC got the scoring started in the second half to cut Binghamton’s lead to just one. A minute later, redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt answered with a goal of his own. Just as both teams began to stagnate on offense, Insinga found the back of the net once again to put BU up 9-6. Both sides traded goals to close out the quarter and the Bearcats entered the final frame with a 10-8 lead.

“We persevered and came out with the win,” McKeown said. “We worked our way out of that second quarter, and we both got out of that sluggish start.”

UMBC got on the board first in the fourth, cutting the Bearcat lead to one goal, but the visitors responded, scoring three consecutive goals to go up 13-9, their largest lead of the match. The Retrievers would not give up, however, as they were right on BU’s tail, getting on the board once again with just over three minutes left to make it 13-10. Despite both teams trading goals in the final minutes, the Retrievers would fall short as Binghamton ended up on top 16-13, improving to 4-1 in AE play.

“We had some good possessions and were able to put up six [goals] in that last quarter,” McKeown said. “We talked about in the huddle before going into the fourth, we just had to win the fourth quarter, and we were able to do that.”

Insinga led the Bearcats overall with six points on the day, which included three goals and three assists. Overall, the victory was a team effort as three players, including Insinga, Keegan and Adams managed to record a hat trick in the victory. In addition, sophomore goalie Connor Winters contributed defensively, managing 18 saves.

“I thought the whole attack line was really good,” McKeown said. “[Insinga] did a great job … he was able to get to the net multiple times and made some big plays preserving some possessions, and [Adams] has been playing well all season for us. I thought [Winters] came up with some huge saves when we had a few defensive breakdowns.”

Binghamton will end its two-game road trip with a matchup against Bryant on Saturday, April 22. First faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

“When you play good teams and you have the conference games late in the season, that’s kind of the way it goes,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We knew with a 4-1 lead for us, we knew [Vermont was] gonna punch back.”

Although BU (7-3, 3-1 AE) led 4-1 after the first, Vermont (6-4, 4-0 AE) put the first point on the board five minutes into the match. Redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt answered just 90 seconds later to put the game back at a draw. The Bearcats would maintain momentum in the period as senior midfielder Nicholas Imburgia and sophomore attack Gage Adams added consecutive goals as the hosts entered the second quarter with a two-point advantage.

“I thought we played a really good team [and] good opponent, and I thought we competed pretty well,” McKeown said. “One of the things we talked about going into the game was ground balls and clearing just to really make sure we had as much possession as possible. I thought that was a big factor in the outcome.”

Binghamton’s first-period run poured into the second as an early-frame score by sophomore attack Matthew Keegan put his team ahead of the Catamounts 4-1. Vermont, however, soon found its footing and sparked its own run, scoring two straight goals, although BU would add another of their own courtesy of junior midfielder Ethan Insinga. The Catamounts, nevertheless, did not slow down their attack adding three more goals in the final three minutes of the first half and grabbed the lead back from the Bearcats. Vermont entered the break with a 6-5 lead.

“We did a good job in the middle of the field,” McKeown said. “The possession battle was something that we wanted to try to tilt in our favor, but weren’t able to do that.”

Vermont would also maintain its offensive output over the break going into the third. The Catamounts scored two straight man-up goals, taking a three-goal advantage and capping off a 5-0 run that began late in the first half. Late in the frame, Binghamton closed on its deficit. Keegan converted on a score, courtesy of an assist from Greenblatt, which brought the Bearcats to within just two points as they entered the final quarter trailing 8-6.

“I also think part of the game that hurt us a bit was we were 0-for-3 man-up, and I think [Vermont was] 3-for-4,” McKeown said. “A couple penalties there [in the] mid-third quarter that I thought really kinda put our backs against the wall and [Vermont] scored on both of them.”

BU was on the board first in the fourth as Insinga added his second goal of the game to bring the hosts within one at 8-7. The Catamounts, however, went back on the offensive, scoring three unanswered to go up four goals. Keegan added two more goals in the final minute of action, but it was too late as time ran out and the Bearcats dropped the contest 11-9.

“I think we know we can play with the best teams in the conference, and obviously Vermont is [tied for first],” McKeown said. “We were right there with them, so I think just continuing to get better over these next three weeks, taking it one game at a time and hopefully we find ourselves with an opportunity to see them again.”

Binghamton will return to action on the road when it faces UMBC on Saturday, April 15. First faceoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at UMBC Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

“It’s a little bit of mixed feelings,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I thought, especially having that type of lead, that it wouldn’t be that close at the end. We’ll have plenty to learn from it, but we’ll also be excited that we’re 2-0.”

Right after winning the opening faceoff, just five seconds into the match, senior faceoff Matthew DeSouza ran straight down the middle of the field and scored to put BU (6-2, 2-0 AE) up 1-0 over the Highlanders (2-6, 0-2 AE). The score marked the fastest goal recorded in Binghamton lacrosse history. The Bearcats continued to pour on the offense and put pressure on the NJIT defense as junior midfielder Ethan Insinga, along with sophomore attack Matthew Keegan, found the back of the net.

Not long after, freshman midfielder Gavin Jacobsen recorded his first collegiate goal to put Binghamton up 5-0. With just over three minutes to go, senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara scored to cap off a 6-0 run to start the match for the Bearcats. The Highlanders eventually got on the board with under three minutes to go. However, that was the only goal for them in the quarter — while the Bearcats added two more to their tally and led 8-1 going into the second period.

“[In the first quarter], we won the faceoffs and had a lot of offensive possession,” McKeown said. “The guys are being unselfish and moving the ball well.”

The nature of the second period was more back-and-forth as NJIT began to find its groove. After Binghamton opened up the period with a goal from Insinga, NJIT responded with three straight scores to make it 9-4. The Bearcats went on to score two straight, including a behind the back goal from sophomore attack Gage Adams. Almost immediately, the Highlanders managed to score on the other end and added two more goals to their total, completing another three-goal run. Despite being outscored 7-4 in the period, BU led 12-8 going into halftime.

“We’ve been able to spread the wealth a little bit … we’ve got a lot of guys with double-digit points,” McKeown said.

The second half started with NJIT putting one in the back of the net to cut Binghamton’s lead to just three. Similar to the second period, both teams would go back-and-forth as the Highlanders were on the Bearcats’ tail. Binghamton then scored three consecutive goals, as it increased its lead to six. This would not last for long, as NJIT ended the period on another 3-0 scoring run to trail 15-12 heading into the final frame.

“Credit to [NJIT], I thought they really did a great job in transition,” McKeown said. “They were pushing it hard, and we didn’t get back in time on multiple occasions, and they caught us in some spots there.”

The Highlanders struck first in the final period as BU saw its lead dwindling. With nine minutes to go, NJIT cut Binghamton’s lead to one. With the Bearcats in dire need of a goal, Keegan scored to complete his hat trick, giving Binghamton a two-goal cushion. NJIT continued to fight back as the visitors cut the Bearcat lead to just one once again, and after a Binghamton turnover, another NJIT goal tied the game at 16. The hosts, however, regained the lead courtesy of a goal from Adams. With less than a minute to go, the Bearcats managed one final stop to secure a 17-16 win.

“I’m excited that we came out with the win, especially a day like this,” Adams said. “Everyone’s pushing each other hard everyday, and it’s really important that we keep doing that in practice.”

Adams led the way on offense with six goals and one assist. In addition, Keegan had a six-point day, tallying three goals and three assists. Sophomore goalie Connor Winters also managed 17 saves in the winning effort.

“I thought [Adams] was great,” McKeown said. “I thought he did a really good job finding openings, was cutting really well. Our midfielders are doing a really good job of finding him, and he’s finishing his opportunities.”

Binghamton will head on the road to take on UMass Lowell on Saturday, April 1. First faceoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Cushing Field in Lowell, Massachusetts.

“It was a great team win,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I thought we did well in all facets … [I] thought [sophomore goalie Connor Winters] did a great job in goal, so I’m really proud of the guys to get the first conference win on the road.”

BU (5-2, 1-0 AE) started the first quarter strong with goals from freshman midfielder Will Feldmann and sophomore attack Gage Adams giving the Bearcats an early 2-0 lead over the Warriors (4-3, 0-1 AE). However, Merrimack responded with a goal of its own to cut the Binghamton lead to one. After each team traded goals again, two consecutive scores from sophomore attack Matthew Keegan gave the Bearcats a 5-2 lead going into the second quarter.

“I thought [Binghamton assistant coach Tyler Perrelle] did a really good job of preparing the guys during the week,” McKeown said. “[Merrimack’s] goalie is very good, and we didn’t want to necessarily take the first shot. We wanted to work our possessions and have longer possessions and we did that, and I think doing that allowed us to get some higher percentage looks.”

The second quarter started off with a goal from Merrimack that cut BU’s lead to 5-3. After that, however, Binghamton bombarded Merrimack with four unanswered goals to make the score 9-3 with three minutes to go in the half. The first goal of the run was from Keegan, who completed his hat trick. Winters followed soon after, scoring as a goalie and hitting the back of the net from 55 yards out. Binghamton used the momentum to score two more unanswered from junior midfielder Ethan Insinga and senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara, respectively. After the run, a goal from Merrimack and a last-second goal from BU made the score 10-4 going into the second half.

“When the goalie scores the guys get fired up for sure,” McKeown said. “I know our sideline was pretty excited for him.”

The third quarter saw both teams alternate goals, with each team scoring twice in the quarter. The fourth quarter had less offense but saw more action from Binghamton. On offense, the Bearcats scored two consecutive goals in the fourth, coming from Adams and redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt, respectively, to give BU a 14-6 lead. Greenblatt had his first goal of the game in the quarter, netting his only score to add to his game-high six assists. On defense, Binghamton did not allow a goal until the final seconds of the game, which made the final score 14-7.

“I think we handled our one-on-one matchups really well,” McKeown said. “We felt like we matched up with them pretty well … and we gave [Winters] some shots that were savable.”

Binghamton managed control of the game offensively, shooting 34 shots on goal compared to Merrimack’s 20. Individually, Keegan’s four goals brought his scoring total to 23 goals on the season. In addition, Greenblatt had seven points in the contest, including tying the program record with six assists in the first half.

“[Keegan and Greenblatt] are doing a great job,” McKeown said. “[Greenblatt] is seeing the field on a really high level, being able to find open guys [and] play through some pressure. [Keegan’s] doing a great job dodging, playing off-ball and finding the back of the net. It’s nice to have those two guys out there on our side.”

Binghamton will head home to continue AE play against NJIT on Saturday, March 25. First faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“I’m proud of the way we played across the board,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We really wanted to focus on scrapping for ground balls and getting possessions. I thought offensively we played well and shared the ball well. [Sophomore attack Matthew Keegan], [senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara], [and redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt] all had a big game for us. It was nice to see those guys step up. The face-off unit played really well. [Sophomore goalie Connor Winters] came up with some really big saves on a few key opportunities for Fairfield.”

Binghamton (4-2) started off the game strong, with a goal by Keegan four minutes in. However, Fairfield (2-5) knotted the game at 1-1 with a score soon after Keegan. The Bearcats responded with a goal from junior midfielder Ethan Insinga and another from Keegan, putting them up 3-1. After a barrage of shots on Winters over the course of the first quarter, the Stags netted two more goals to knot the score at 3-3. However, Greenblatt rifled a shot from 15 yards out into the bottom of the net and gave BU a 4-3 lead going into the second quarter.

“[Greenblatt]’s the pace setter out there,” McKeown said. “He’s got a great feel for the game, when we should go fast or be more patient. He also does a good job of figuring out how the defense is playing him, whether it’s time for him to shoot or pass, and obviously he found a bunch of passing opportunities today with the four assists he had.”

The Bearcats opened up the second quarter with goals from Keegan and senior defender Declan Ferris to expand to a 6-3 lead. The Stags responded to make the score 6-4, but that would be their only goal of the quarter. The visitors finished the second period on a 3-0 run with two goals from O’Hara and another by Keegan, entering the break with a 9-4 lead after outshooting Fairfield 29-14.

“[Keegan’s] a guy who takes lacrosse seriously and puts in a lot of time on his own outside of practice over the summer and winter break,” McKeown said. “A lot of hours with the stick in his hands, so it’s nice to see that paying off for him.”

Both teams stifled each other defensively in the third frame, adding just one goal each. In the fourth quarter, however, the teams matched their scoring efforts at four goals each, allowing for the 14-9 win. Greenblatt, Keegan and O’Hara added multiple goals to their tallies, with Keegan leading the Bearcats with six goals. Greenblatt notched four assists in addition to netting two goals.

“I thought we got a little casual,” McKeown said. “There were a few shots that we took that were maybe a little bit outside our range, or we didn’t quite shoot with the power we had in the first half there. Credit to [Fairfield’s] guys too. They made a couple of saves. They had some good possessions I thought too in the third quarter. That’s when I thought Winters had a couple of good saves. He had six in that third quarter, so I think he did a great job of being able to keep them at an arm’s length still.”

The Bearcats dominated the Stags in the offensive half of the field, finishing the game with 48 shots compared to Fairfield’s 37. Winter’s made 11 saves for Binghamton while the Stag’s goalie finished with 14. Binghamton turned the ball over 17 times compared to the hosts’ 12, but led the Stags in ground balls with a tally of 37-25.

“I think just taking another step forward and getting better,” McKeown said. “I think there’s plenty of room for improvement being about halfway through the season now. We know we’re going to see a lot of quality teams in our conference and Merrimack will definitely be one of those. It’ll be a big challenge, and we’ll have to be on our game to do well.”

Binghamton will begin their America East conference schedule next Saturday, March 18 when they travel to take on Merrimack. First faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Duane Stadium in North Andover, Massachusetts.

“One thing that we can take from [this game] is that we know we have the ability to come back,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We really did a better job there in the second half. Being down by a large margin to a good team can be a little intimidating. I don’t think we were intimated by that, so it was encouraging to see. Our guys stuck together, they kept a positive attitude and I think that reflected in how we were able to claw our way back there.”

Lehigh (4-1, 1-0 Patriot League) started off the match strong, opening the game up with four goals before Binghamton (3-2) got on the board. The Bearcats were scoreless until the 5:26 mark, when sophomore attack Gage Adams found the twine courtesy of an assist by junior midfielder Ethan Insinga. The Mountain Hawks scored thrice more in the last four minutes to close out the first frame with a commanding 7-1 lead.

The second period took on a markedly different, competitive tone. While Lehigh notched another six goals, Binghamton added five of its own. Although the Mountain Hawks got on the board first, Adams added a second goal to his total, along with one from redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt, to complete the two score run. Despite Lehigh scoring five more times in the frame, Adams found twine once again, completing the hat trick, along with scores from senior midfielder Nicholas Imburgia and sophomore attack Matthew Keegan. The half ended with the Bearcats trailing 13-6.

“I think a lot of [the offense stepping up] was just more possession,” McKeown said. “We played a lot of defense in that first quarter. It came down to the opportunities that we got, and we got a little bit more comfortable as we got more opportunities just going against [Lehigh’s] defense and having some success.”

After halftime, BU took command of the game in the third quarter. Lehigh couldn’t find the back of the net and could scarcely find the front of it either, with the Bearcats holding them to three shots in the period and no goals. Binghamton, on the other hand, went on the attack, scoring four goals in the frame. Senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara scored a goal, alongside another of Keegan’s and another pair from Adams. The third frame ended as a considerably tighter game, with the Bearcats trailing 13-10.

“Changing to a zone defense at halftime was a driving factor in the improvement on defense,” McKeown said. “That was a big change for us. We really hadn’t done it much all year. We were struggling stopping [Lehigh’s] dodgers one-on-one, so just felt like we needed to do something to be able to limit that.”

The match’s fourth and final period saw the BU continue its resurgence. After allowing the Mountain Hawks’ final goal of the game at the 12 minute mark, Imburgia responded with his own score followed by a second from Greenblatt. O’Hara brought BU to within one point with 3:42 on the clock, but despite the second half effort, the comeback was unable to be completed as Binghamton went down with a fight 14-13 in Bethlehem.

The Bearcats outshot the Mountain Hawks 37-35 and had 15 turnovers to Lehigh’s 20. Individual highlights include Adams’ five goals and Greenblatt’s two goals and three assists.

“Offensively, all those guys did a nice job,” McKeown said. “I thought they were clicking well as a unit. Offensively, as a whole, it was probably the best game that we’ve had yet.”

Binghamton will continue on the road to face Fairfield on Saturday, March 11. First face off is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield, Connecticut.

“I thought [the game] was up and down,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I was proud of the way we held our composure. I don’t think we got too high or too low.”

BU (3-1) struck first against St. John’s (0-5) with a goal from redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt halfway through the first quarter. The game remained low scoring throughout the opening period until the Red Storm answered back, going on a three-goal run, two of which in the final minute.

The second quarter started unlike the first when the Bearcats gave St. John’s a flurry of goals of their own. Two minutes into the second frame, senior midfielder Nicholas Imburgia scored a goal to make the score 3-2. Following that score, Binghamton added four more unanswered, each of them coming from a different Bearcat.

“We got a lot in transition there,” McKeown said. “We were attacking, that was part of our game plan. A lot of the time [consecutive goals] come in spurts, it’s not going to be a consistent thing.”

After BU scored five goals in a row, the Red Storm responded with three more, leveling up the game at six with approximately four minutes remaining in the half. Nevertheless, junior midfielder Aaron Tebo scored the last goal of the half, which would also be his first goal of the season, with just over a minute left to play, giving the Bearcats a slim 7-6 lead going into the second half.

“I was a little disappointed with how we played 6-on-6 defensively in [the second] quarter,” McKeown said. “I felt like we could have had a little bit of a bigger cushion going into the half.”

The third quarter began with a quick goal from St. John’s to tie the game at seven. Less than a minute after the visitors’ score, Binghamton regained the lead with a goal from senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara and added to that advantage with another score from the Bearcats’ leading scorer, sophomore attack Matthew Keegan. After those two goals, the Red Storm went on another run, giving them the lead heading into the fourth.

“I thought they got after us in transition a little bit,” McKeown said. “We struggled [in the] third quarter clearing the ball at times.”

St. John’s started off the fourth much like how it started the third, with a quick goal to extend its lead 11-9. The Bearcats were quick to return, with a goal from junior midfielder Ethan Insinga. The rest of the quarter was without scoring, until, with under five minutes left, Binghamton tied the match. However, the visitors answered back, making the score 12-11 with two minutes and 36 seconds left. Binghamton came alive in the contest’s final minutes, adding a goal from O’Hara to tie the game, along with a late score from Greenblatt with just 40 seconds remaining to give Binghamton a 13-12 lead, and ultimately, the win. In addition to a clutch goal in the final minute of the game, Greenblatt scored two other goals, earning himself a hat trick.

“I felt a lot of confidence in our group in the fourth quarter, so I wasn’t shocked when we stayed the course and were able to pull it out,” McKeown said. “I thought [Greenblatt] did a really good job. He does a great job of letting the game come to him. He gets everybody involved on the offense, and it was good to see him step up and score three today.”

Binghamton will go back on the road to face Lehigh on Tuesday, March 7. First face-off will be at 6 p.m. at the Frank Banko Field at the Ulrich Sports Complex in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“I thought we kind of came out hot there,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “Then [Lafayette] settled in and did a better job competing on ground balls, winning face-offs and really did a good job of getting the ball off the ground on their defensive end. It just allowed them to keep attacking, and I thought, unfortunately, we lost a little bit of confidence there and didn’t regain it after halftime.”

BU (2-1) got started on offense early, attacking Lafayette’s (2-3) cage in the opening minutes. Despite the hosts’ pressure, the Leopards struck first, scoring off of a turnover. With just under eight minutes in the first period, redshirt junior midfielder Thomas Greenblatt received a pass from senior midfielder Quinn O’Hara at the top of the crease and ripped a goal to even the score at 1-1. That goal sparked a three-goal run for Binghamton as senior midfielder Nicholas Imburgia and junior midfielder Ethan Insinga added to the total. After one quarter, the Bearcats held a 3-1 advantage.

“We’ve seen us [score early] in previous games,” McKeown said. “We just gotta get back to the drawing board and compete hard in practice this week and make sure we get better.”

The second quarter began with two saves from sophomore goalie Connor Winters, however, consistent pressure from the visitors eventually found the back of the net to cut the deficit to just one goal. This led to three consecutive scores for the Leopards as they continued to pressure BU’s defense, taking a 4-3 lead with less than four minutes to play in the half. The hosts struggled to create opportunities on offense in the second frame as they failed to add to its tally. Lafayette put up four goals in this time span to enter halftime with a 5-3 lead.

“I think a little bit of it may be shot selection and just making sure we’re working for higher percentage opportunities,” McKeown said. “Getting a better angle on goal in some cases, and I thought we did get some good opportunities that we just didn’t can.”

Lafayette took less than a minute to get on the board in the second half, as it capitalized on a power play that carried over from the end of the first half. Binghamton finally responded to the 5-0 run with a goal by O’Hara, but the Leopards answered just 20 seconds later. After some quiet play for the rest of the period, BU conceded two more goals to fall behind 9-4 going into the final frame. The Bearcats struggled to maintain possession in the penultimate quarter as they had six turnovers and 19 overall in the game.

“I didn’t think we cleared the ball well in that third quarter,” McKeown said. “That really wore us down, and when you’re down three goals after the first man-up goal by [Lafayette], it’s hard to come back when you’re not getting those possessions.”

In the fourth quarter, Binghamton could not find the back of the net as Lafayette added one more goal to its total. The game ended 10-4 as the Bearcats picked up their first loss of the season.

“It was a tough start with the penalty to start the half there,” McKeown said. “They put one in man up. [Lafayette’s] a really good team, they continue to get better every year, so we’ll get back to practice this week and get ready for St. John’s.”

The Bearcats will remain at home for their next game against St. John’s on Saturday, March 4. First face-off is scheduled for noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.