Coming away from this trap and becoming free of these forces is difficult and feels impossible because, when you’re in these spots, it doesn’t always feel irregular. But when you get that, whether a literal or metaphorical slap on the neck, it is clear. It’s like waking up for the first time. What you choose to do next is up to you.

Last summer, I decided to watch “Best in Show,” a mockumentary from the year 2000 parodying a dog show. With a friend on the West Side of Binghamton, we ate the worst chicken wings of our lives, and for 90 minutes, nothing else mattered. That was the safest I’ve ever felt. It was a transition between what was and what is to come for me. Admittedly, after the movie ended, there was a chilling sensation of dread filling every thought I had. What happens now?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and an hour-and-a-half of dogs waltzing around with overbearing owners, as great as it is, didn’t solve everything either. But what it did do was remind me that everything was going to be alright. Life happens, and it keeps going, but you can control its pace. Take a break, smell the roses and be with yourself.

Four years ago, I didn’t know if college was what I wanted to do after high school. No one in my family went to college right after graduating, and I was working a full-time job as a car-detailing salesman, so I was more-or-less living the dream and there wasn’t pressure to go. College always felt like an option, sometimes unrealistic, sometimes a dream.

It wasn’t until I got a push from someone I owe a lot to that I really put myself out there and saw what came back. So I did. I applied to a bunch of schools and kind of sort of got into Binghamton University. I got into the Binghamton Advantage Program, where I had to take classes at SUNY Broome for a year while living on Binghamton’s campus. This, along with knowing no one from back home, initially made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be here.

This unwanted feeling, along with the already instilled “must work all the time” mentality continued to grow. Instead of burying myself in homework, I looked for jobs and ways to make money — what I was used to. Classes went by, and it was fine, but this feeling persisted. I went home during the lockdowns and decided to work two jobs while finishing up the spring semester of 2020. Somehow, this desire to feel worthwhile still wasn’t satiated.

When we returned to school in my sophomore year, after about two months, I began working two jobs again, thinking this would prove that I earned this and that I worked hard to be here. Then, after one particularly long and mundane shift at the grocery store I was working at, the same friend who was there to watch “Best in Show” sent me a text. She asked if I was looking for a job, and as anyone who’s ever worked retail knows, you’re always looking for another job. I kind of rolled my eyes as I sat in my car after parking in the Hinman lot, resting my legs before the trip back to my dorm, cynically thinking it couldn’t be anything real. As I made the trip through the pavement and back into my room, I wondered what it could possibly be. Soon after, she told me about her job as a production assistant at a local TV station and how she thought I’d be a great fit.

I didn’t know what it entailed, but I decided it was a step in the right direction. The interview lasted all of about three minutes, and my now-boss asked me if I was capable of doing a bunch of tasks I had never heard of but, more importantly, if I was able to stay in Binghamton year-round. I said yes, knowing I’d be alone for much of the summer, but for me, it was once again an opportunity to prove to myself that I deserve to be here.

All this — working, going to SUNY Broome, being unsure about school in general — just grew an unhealthily large chip on my shoulder. I needed to prove to the world that I was enough, that I worked hard and that I didn’t slack off. Well, through the ups and downs and over the last 20 months, I’ve worked there five or more days a week and can without a doubt say that desire to prove myself hasn’t gone away, but it’s relaxed. Working full-time and going to school full-time isn’t fun — it has a lot of downsides, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun doing it or that it was unnecessary. Though there are times when you’re walking around like a zombie and the only thing keeping you up is a voice telling you to keep going.

When I came to college, I didn’t know if I was going to see the end of it. But I did tell myself that if I did, I’d go out by metaphorically jumping on the table, banging my fist on my chest and yelling to the world that I did it. What I know now is that I was just an insecure, selfish 18-year-old who didn’t know what he wanted. Now that I’m finishing up my time as a student, I laugh at the thought of how that drove me here. When I finish my classes, instead of yelling and hollering, I’ll probably just take a nap and send a text to those who helped the most. There was never a reason to be so mad.

When I was that kid as a senior in high school, I just wanted someone to believe in me. Now, as a 21-year-old ready to continue my bout in the workforce, I just regret not thanking and appreciating everyone who did.

I’m not saying to brush that chip off your shoulder or to take it easy, but instead of getting mad at your own insecurities, go thank your older sisters who never had the opportunities that you had, go give the guy who told you to apply to Binghamton a hug and go watch a movie with your friends. Feed both sides of yourself — you’re only getting hungrier one way or the other. Maybe if I did, I would’ve never believed those who told me I didn’t deserve the good in life.

Ian Mills is a senior majoring in business administration.

“There were a lot of great performances and a couple of exceptional performances,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “A few that we were hoping would be better, but that’s normal. I thought overall, it was a very strong first meet.”

Luciano set the Binghamton record in the weight throw by getting a distance of 59-10.5 feet. This mark was about nine inches over the previous record set in 2014. In his first meet as a Bearcat, Luciano placed second in the competition.

“I knew [Luciano] would throw well, and I was hoping he would get the freshman record,” Thompson said. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting him to get the school record. He almost broke 60 feet, which is a goal and a milestone. It was a great first meet. To come in as a freshman in your very first collegiate competition and break the school record, that’s a pretty big deal.”

On the men’s side, two Bearcats finished atop their events. Senior Marcrene Jeannot placed in the gold position for the triple jump with a meet-best distance of 47-10. Jeannot also competed in the long jump for the first time in three years, placing sixth and recording a personal best of 22-8.5 feet.

“For [Jeannot], that triple jump that he won, that’s kind of an average jump for him, but he actually looked much better in the long jump that he didn’t win, but he had a personal best and he hasn’t long jumped in almost three years,” Thompson said. “To come in really with no expectations in the long jump and then jump further than he’s ever jumped, he was very excited. It was great that he won the triple jump, but honestly, I thought his long jump was the best performance, the better performance for him.”

The other half of the men’s top finishes was senior Cian Galligan in the 3k. The senior started off his season with a time of 8:41.28. The other two men to place in top-three positions were senior Mark Scanlon in the mile and junior Marcus Johnson in the 500-meter dash. Scanlon recorded a time of 4:29.39 while Johnson finished the trip in 1:06.31.

“[Galligan] ran a really solid race,” Thompson said. “I spoke to him a little bit afterward, and he was happy with it. So I think for him, it was really just a good start to the season.”

On the women’s side, junior Jenna Chan and sophomore Hillary Abankwa won their competitions in the 60-meter hurdles and 300-meter dash, respectively. Chan ran the long part of the track in 8.60 seconds. Abankwa ran the one-and-a-half laps in 40.20 seconds, a collegiate best and second all-time in BU program history. Chan also competed in the long jump, finishing fourth with a distance of 18-1.75 feet.

“[Chan] did pretty much what we thought she would do,” Thompson said. “She’s looked fantastic all year, and the same with [Abankwa], I mean she’s very good. She’s a great competitor, and she ran really well which wasn’t totally unexpected, so they both look good.”

The rest of the women’s side combined for a trio of podium finishes as sophomore Lucciana Robertson placed second while freshman Alyssa Armitage and graduate student Stephanie Cassens earned a third-place spot. Cassens earned the bronze spot in the 500-meter with a time of 1:16.43. Robertson recorded a personal best in the high jump at 5-06 feet while Armitage pole vaulted 11-08 feet in her first meet as a Bearcat. Overall, 13 women finished in the top eight.

“[Robertson] didn’t have a great year last year,” Thompson said. “So to see her jump the highest that she’s jumped since her junior year in high school was very exciting for us and for her … Armitage in the pole vault looks great. The height that she jumped isn’t indicative of how well she did.”

This is the first meet for the Bearcats in the indoor meet, and they won’t return to action until after winter break.

“A lot of this December meet is a big deal for the freshmen,” Thompson said. “It’s good for them to get their feet wet. A lot of times they can be nervous. First time in collegiate competition, so it’s partly that. It’s also partly just to give them a chance to compete after three months of training. [It] wears on you after a while where you’re training every day for three full months and not competing, so I think it’s great to give them a meet before they head off for the winter break.”

BU returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Upstate Challenge. The first event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Barton Hall in Ithaca, New York.

“It was a good meet for us,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “We controlled the dual meet, our guys wrestled hard. I think top to bottom, at all 10 weights, we put out a good effort, and I’m pretty happy with the performance out of each guy that wrestled tonight.”

After dropping his first three bouts of the season, sophomore Micah Roes secured a pair of takedowns in the first period and then proceeded with three minutes of ride time over the rest of the match to record his first victory via a 5-1 decision. This was the first win in the 125-pound weight class for BU this season.

In the 133-pound weight class, redshirt senior Anthony Sobotker led in the second period after a takedown gave him a 5-4 advantage. His opponent, however, quickly reversed and ran away in the third period to win in a 10-5 decision, tying the meet up 3-3.

Redshirt freshman Nate Lucier took the mat as a 141-pounder, grabbing a takedown in the first period before the Bull escaped to tie the bout at two. In the third period, Lucier escaped early to take the lead and then proceeded to avoid a few takedown attempts to win 3-2 and regain the lead for the Bearcats. This is Lucier’s second straight win in a dual match this season.

“There were a lot of close matches and we came out on top of almost all of them,” Borshoff said. “You got to win the close matches in dual meets and we did that tonight. That gets you wins.”

BU strung together wins with back-to-back 3-2 decisions, as graduate student Michael Zarif secured his sixth win of the year in the 149-pound class. The Bulls didn’t go away easy, taking down freshman Fin Nadeau via decision to make it 9-6.

In the 165-pound match, freshman Will Ebert took the mat and the back-and-forth bout came down to the ride time point to give Ebert a win and extend BU’s lead to 12-6. Redshirt junior Sam DePrez won his first dual start of the season with a 2-0 decision thanks to a third-period escape. DePrez defeated the No. 28 174-pounder in the country to earn his second win against a ranked opponent.

“That’s [S. DePrez’s] second-ranked win of the season,” Borshoff said. “Really good performance out of him tonight. We knew that was gonna be, potentially, a swing weight … [S. DePrez] controlled that match. I think he’s settling into the right weight class finally. It’s his first year at 174. I think he feels confident and strong, and he’s starting to have some good results.

Redshirt junior Jacob Nolan dropped his first bout of the year in the 184-pound match against the No. 25 wrestler in the country to make it 15-9. That was followed up by four takedowns in the first period by L. DePrez, which turned into an 18-5 major decision to extend the Bearcat lead to 19-9.

“We were the more offensive team,” Borshoff said. “We generated a lot of offense tonight. We scored points everywhere, and I think we did a really good job of just controlling the offensive positions in every weight class.”

To end the dual, Day took the mat and recorded an early takedown followed by a second takedown in the second to get a 5-0 decision. This earned him his fifth win of the season, which handed the Bearcats their first dual win of the year.

“We wrestled some of the best teams in the country, and that prepared us for this match,” Borshoff said. “We’re wrestling two Big 10 teams next weekend, and those matches will continue to prepare us for the important part of our season.”

Next up for the Bearcats is the Garden State Grapple, where they’re scheduled to take on Michigan State and Indiana on Sunday, Dec. 4. First bout against the Spartans is set for 2 p.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

“It says a lot about our program and the consistency that we continue to have,” said Binghamton head coach Annette Acuff. “Men’s cross country [and] women’s cross country has steadily continued to improve, especially over the last three years. And if you look at the consistency with how we compete within our conference and within the region, and also, every few years, we’re sending someone maybe not so much in cross country but someone in track, a distance runner to the NCAA national meet. I think it says a lot about what we’re doing within both cross country and track and field, I’m really proud of the kids with their efforts this fall.”

Ryan wrapped her debut season for the Bearcats as just the third BU female athlete ever to be awarded All-Northeast Region honors. The Utah transfer made the 6k trip in 21:02.3, placing 16th out of 252 finishers. Ryan concludes the cross-country season with four top-30 finishes in as many races, highlighted by a first-place podium finish at the Iona Meet of Champions and a bronze spot in the America East Championships two weeks ago.

“[Ryan] had a great race,” Acuff said. “She certainly was able to perform, getting that all-region is fantastic. So that was definitely the goal … It was so consistent for us, that showed in the results and those are the type of performances that we really need to be consistently competitive at a high level. Finishing 11th for the women was a fantastic finish for us as a team.”

The usual suspects were right behind Ryan as freshman Sydney Leitner and graduate student Aziza Chigatayeva placed 41st and 43rd, respectively. Leitner’s time of 21:27.3 and place was good enough to nab the second-best freshman finish in program history at the Regional Championships.

“[Leitner’s] a freshman and placed 41st overall,” Acuff said. “A fantastic finish for a freshman.”

Chigatayeva concludes her collegiate cross country career with a time of 21:28.9. Last season, the graduate student placed 41st at the meet.

“[Chigatayeva] was right there with [Ryan] and they were pretty close together in the top 20,” Acuff said. “And then, unfortunately, she just started to run out of gas a little bit toward the very end, but she really put herself out there. So I was really proud of both of their performances.”

Junior Sheridan Talada and senior Carolyn Burnell rounded out the Bearcats’ top five with 112th and 132nd finishes, respectively. Talada made the trip in 22:38.1, with Burnell just 15 seconds behind with a time of 22:53 flat.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the entire program, all the women on our team,” Acuff said. “[Talada] was able to kind of move up, and it was fantastic to have her best day at the NCAA regional … so that made a big difference for us on Friday … Burnell, obviously was very consistent for us too. I think really adding her to her consistency made a big difference for our team performances this year.”

On the men’s side junior Josh Stone led the way, covering the 10k course in 30:46.7 and finishing in 52nd out of 227 finishers. Last year, Stone placed 67th at the Regional meet. Senior Matthew Cavaliere was nine seconds behind Stone in 59th. The Bearcats’ finish of 30:55.9 improved from a 90th-place spot from a year ago. The senior rounds off his BU cross-country career competing in four meets this season with his best finish at the AE Championships.

“[Stone’s] had a very solid consistent, I think, a very successful season,” Acuff said. “I thought [Stone and Cavaliere] really significantly help the program.”

Senior Ryan Guerci was the final Bearcat to finish in the top 100, placing 92nd. Senior Marty Dolan and freshman Andrew Rosenblatt finished out the top five for BU with 126th and 144th place finishes, respectively.

The men’s team finishes their season with a second place finish at the conference championships then a top-half spot this weekend.

“From the outside looking in, you wonder why you see a performance that’s subpar, and I think as a coach, you’ve learned to be patient, especially over the years a poor experience that you have, because things rarely work out perfectly in terms of a game or meet that you’re competing at,” Acuff said. “I think it’s really important to be patient with your athletes and your program and just continue to be very positive with what you’re doing and the vision that you have for your program and continue to try to move the needle forward.”

Both the women’s and men’s sides will return two of their top three runners for next year.

“We can kind of build off of what we achieved this year,” Acuff said.

“Just a little bit of swagger and having fun with it,” Balogun said. “I’m a guy that, if I’m doing well, stuff’s going well, I’m not really quiet. I get engaged, I love it and I pump it up. That’s in my system. Just having fun, but still determined.”

Balogun played three seasons with the Colonels, where he started 10 games last year, averaging 4.0 points per game and 1.4 blocks per game, which would have been tied for second in the AE last season. He maintains an unselfish style of play that he feels resonates within this BU team.

“There are no egos on this team,” Balogun said. “That’s what I like, everyone wants everyone to be good … There’s no sense of selfishness. We’re always trying to move the ball. It’s never really a thing where I’ve felt like I’m not getting the ball or this person doesn’t want me to be great. Everyone’s just happy to be here and our main goal, really, we just all really want to win.”

Though Balogun’s defensive efforts would help any team, numbers only tell half the story. The best way the London native makes an impact is through the excitement he brings to the court. Whether it’s momentum-shifting blocks or rim-rattling dunks, Balogun knows the fans at the Events Center will get on their feet if he shows them what he can do.

“Expect to see some blocks, some dunks, energy, hustle, grit, commitment,” Balogun said. “An overall guy that’s just gonna do everything I can in order to win. There’s no you without winning. You could have had three points, but if you don’t win, it’s not nearly as good.”

The Italy-born forward came a long way to upstate New York. Balogun came to the United States as a high school sophomore and then transferred to the Miller School of Albemarle in Virginia to finish out his high school career a year later.

“It’s been an interesting parallel, basketball’s taken me around to so many places,” Balogun said. “It’s taken me to many states. I’ve been almost everywhere … I’ve met so many people and now I’m in Binghamton, New York.”

After deciding to enter the transfer portal following last season, it was ultimately head coach Levell Sanders that brought Balogun to Vestal. One of the main draws to coming to BU was the ability to be a part of the foundation of the school’s resurgence in the AE.

“When I visited Binghamton, I really liked [Sanders] and how he just explained what it was from the beginning,” Balogun said. “They’re gonna push me and just gonna work me to be great … I like the school, also the environment and how New York is right there. Like it was really just the perfect school plus the education too …. It just felt like a perfect fit.”

For the Bearcat, the most satisfying play of basketball isn’t a perfectly-executed alley-oop or even a game-changing three-pointer. It’s all about making defensive fundamentals look cinematic. But, that doesn’t mean this team doesn’t appreciate the thundering dunks the 6-foot-10-inch big will ignite the Events Center with.

“A real, whole hand on [a block], the crowd always loves that,” Balogun said. “I mean, dunks, they’re gonna love that too. There’s gonna be times when I dunk on a couple of people. It’s definitely gonna be fun.”

Although Balogun has yet to play a live game at the Events Center, the free-flowing forward is counting down the days until he can show off and hear the roar of the Binghamton University faithful.

“I’m definitely excited about the crowd, and I know we got good fans,” Balogun said. “I’ve met some of the fans, and some alumni too already. The energy has been great, everyone’s excited, so I really just can’t wait to get out and just show what we got and what we’ve been working on.”

“Having everybody healthy this season, that was a telltale last year when you had eight players throughout the year, it was tough, but everybody’s back that was unhealthy,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “We’re just hoping that we keep that way, that we stay that way, but I’m excited about this group. We have a lot of young kids, a lot of new ones, but we also have some pretty good vets coming back as well.”

Despite ending the season seventh in the America East (AE) last year, BU was picked to finish fifth this year in the AE coach’s preseason selections, and was just one of three teams picked with a first-place vote. That disparity may come from a lack of familiarity with the rest of the conference as the team welcomes five freshmen and two transfers while returning just four players who played more than eight games last season.

“You talk more about process as a coach and really trying to get them to understand that,” Shapiro Ord said. “Believe in the process and we continue to build and stick to our culture and stick to what our bases are. And that’s a big part of it. You can’t just look at wins and losses.”

The Bearcats started the AE season with a 1-12 record before ripping four of five to end the regular season. Much of that came from a more consistent schedule down the stretch, but Shapiro Ord also credited the team’s wherewithal to keep competing despite the circumstances. In BU’s 13 conference losses last year, five of them were decided by one possession.

“I think the girls just kept pulling together,” Shapiro Ord said. “Every game was one or two points and just getting over that hump and I think that was a big part. But I think they’re very hungry knowing that they want to win obviously. And I think it was great ending on an uphill.”

Junior forward Birna Benonysdottir, who ranked third in the conference in points per game and started in 24 games last season, left BU, but the team remains strong in the post. The Bearcats welcome back senior guard Clare Traeger and sophomore forward Genevieve Coleman. Traeger ranked second in the league in rebounding, with 8.2 boards per game despite being listed at just 5-feet-10-inches. Coleman, on the other hand, was named to the AE all-rookie team following her freshman campaign.

“[Coleman’s] really stepped up,” Shapiro Ord said. “She had a great summer, a great spring and she’s having a good really good preseason … The competition’s also really good. And I think, [Coleman] is adding to her game a little bit. She didn’t stretch the floor as much as she did this past season, at least not in games, but in practice she did, and she can so that’ll also add to it.”

Another returner who contributed early last season is redshirt freshman guard Ella Wanzer who took a medical redshirt just eight games into the 2021-2022 season. Wanzer averaged 5.3 points per game in 11.9 minutes per game before going down. Shapiro Ord sees the Buffalo native’s return as a way to stretch the floor this year.

“[Wanzer] is a machine when it comes to scoring and while she was hurt, she was able to really focus on her body and getting healthy,” Shapiro Ord said. “She feels like she’s in a great space right now … I think she’s gonna be a big impact for us.”

The team welcomes a pair of transfers in graduate student guard Shannon O’Connor and redshirt freshman forward Kaelonn Wilson. O’Connor comes from new conference foe Bryant while Wilson redshirted her freshman season at Buffalo.

“Both [O’Connor and Wilson] are very different players but will help,” Shapiro Ord said. “It’s been great in practice with [Williams’] ultra athleticism. Making [Coleman] really go against somebody different, somebody really athletic and figuring out ways to score. And then [O’Connor], she’s a leader, being an older player, obviously, and being able to do some different things within our offense and within our defense that I think that will really help.”

The most prominent of the returners is senior guard Denai Bowman, who has been named to the first-team all-conference in consecutive seasons along with being named to the preseason all-conference team for the year ahead. In a year of uncertainty last season, Bowman was a breath of consistency — being just one of two players to start all 29 games while averaging the second-most points in the league, with 14.6 points per game, and the conference’s fifth-best field goal percentage, .465. The Bearcat also ranked in the top ten in each statistical category including points, steals, assists, rebounding and blocks. On top of being BU’s strongest scorer, Bowman leads the pack defensively, earning AE all-defensive nods the past two seasons as well.

“You’re excited now,” Shapiro Ord said. “It’s like ‘boom,’ it’s here right around the corner. And I’m excited about [Bowman] having all-league again and her being the leader that she’s been.”

“It was very rewarding,” said Binghamton head coach Annette Acuff. “I think for both the men and for our coaching staff and, obviously, a big accomplishment for Binghamton athletics and the University … For the women, to get second, that’s our highest performance, and we’re certainly very proud of that and you get three girls that were all-conference, [it] was a pretty special day.”

The women’s effort was highlighted by the usual triumvirate of graduate students Sophia Ryan and Aziza Chigatayeva along with freshman Sydney Leitner, as they each placed in the top five. Chigatayeva led the way with her best cross-country finish of her career, placing in the silver position with a time of 16:48.1. This is the Bearcat’s highest finish at the AE Championships and marks the fifth straight year she’s placed in the top five.

“I was pretty confident in [Ryan, Chigatayeva and Leitner] because they have ran consistently well all season,” Acuff said. “Of course, [Chigatayeva] for several years now too and I know her, almost like the back of my hand, and she’s an outstanding performer … She’s finished top five in our conference five years in a row … So for someone to be top five, five years in a row, I’ve never had an athlete be that consistently competitive at a high level — it’s just outstanding. Very, very proud, we’re very fortunate that we’ve been able to work with her, and she just really supported our program and at a very high level.”

Ryan was just two seconds behind Chigatayeva with a time of 16:50.3 in third place. This is Ryan’s first AE Championship, and the Utah transfer earned first-team all-conference honors alongside Leitner and Chigatayeva. Leitner’s time of 17:12.2 was good enough for fifth, earning her the AE Most Outstanding Women’s Rookie. The only other Binghamton runner to achieve that feat was Chigatayeva in 2018.

“[Leitner] got all-rookie so that’s great,” Acuff said. “It also looks great for the future. Anytime you have freshmen come in, and they finish in the top five, and [Chigatayeva] did the same thing … [Leitner] has led along those same lines, so it’s exciting for the future for the women’s side.”

Rounding out the Bearcats’ top five were senior Carolyn Burnell and junior Sheridan Talada. Burnell made the trip in 18:15.8 to finish 20th. Previously, her best finish at the AE Championships was 42nd. Talada placed 38th with a time of 18:53.5.

“I couldn’t be more proud of [Burnell],” Acuff said. “It was a huge performance for us on the women’s side, she made the top 20. She’d never finished higher than the top 40, so she really pulled through for us.”

The men’s side also had a trio of runners finishing in the top ten as seniors Matthew Cavaliere, Ryan Guerci and junior Josh Stone all earned all-conference selections, finishing in three straight positions. Cavaliere led the way in sixth with a time of 24:18.9, Stone was in seventh at 24:23.6 while Guerci finished bunch off in eighth with a time of 24:31.7. This is each of their best finishes at the AE Championships.

“It hasn’t been an easy fall on the men’s side,” Acuff said. “But I really have to give our men’s team a lot of credit for going into the conference meet and being able to focus well on executing and just being very competitive.”

The final two scoring runners for BU were seniors Marty Dolan and Nico DeFelice, who placed 28th and 32nd, respectively. This is DeFelice’s best finish at the AE Championships, while Dolan now has finishes of 28, 27, 32 and 29 in his four Championship races.

This silver finish for the men is the highest they’ve placed all year after an injury-plagued regular season. Acuff says the men’s depth has been a weakness all season long, but their top five showed out in Maryland.

“For those men, it was a special day for them,” Acuff said. “They deserve so much credit for the accomplishment yesterday because that course was tough. They needed to put it together, and they were under the gun and they were under pressure to be able to do that, and we felt that as the staff too. So I’m just very proud of everyone’s effort and any accomplishment as a whole.”

Binghamton’s conference rivals kept up with each other all meet. UMass Lowell swept the meet with first-place finishes on both the men’s and women’s sides. The River Hawks posted a score of 38 from the women and 27 from the men. The Bearcats scored 79 points on the men’s side and 67 on the women’s.

Both BU teams will participate next at the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet scheduled for Friday, Nov. 11. First race is TBA at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York.

“There was always a response when we faced a moment of adversity,” said Binghamton head coach Neel Bhattacharjee. “A goal down and came right back. We had a response every single time, and we gritted it out in the end … This is a big, big result for us, we’ll take the three points. Just can’t be any prouder of his team.”

The tone was set early by the River Hawks (7-6-3, 4-2-1 AE) as they peppered the woodwork, just missing the posts on their first two attempts. In the fifth minute, however, BU (8-5-3, 5-1-1 AE) challenged a racing River Hawk down the field. Suddenly, the only one between the River Hawk and the net was senior goalkeeper Nicole Scott. Scott came out to press the striker, but the ball snuck past her and UMass Lowell opened up the scoring.

“I wasn’t sure if this is going to be like a tight 1-0 defensive stalemate type of game due to the organization of both teams, or if it was gonna be more of a wide-open game,” Bhattacharjee said. “Obviously ended up being the latter.”

In the sixth minute, BU earned a corner kick that junior defender Lexi Vegoda skied in the box. The River Hawks got the initial two hits before senior forward Maya Anand went for a shot through contact, but was unable to cleanly hit the ball. However, it did find junior midfielder Molly McClelland, who hit a one-timer straight over everyone, curling past the goaltender’s outstretched arms and tying the game up at one.

“[McClelland] did her role,” Bhattacharjee said. “She pulled out a defender and then was there for a follow-up on the rebound. Just proud of her for getting her first career goal, one of the important moments in today’s match. So excited for her to have that opportunity.”

Less than three minutes later, sophomore forward Peyton Gilmore wrestled for the ball, coming clear to the right of the net, and fired a screamer to the far side of the pipes. UMass Lowell made a diving save, but did not haul it in completely as senior midfielder Olivia McKnight rebounded and slid into the ball past another defender to score and take the lead.

“We work so hard trying to get where we are and everyone’s pushing,” O. McKnight said. “The bench is screaming their heads off the whole time to lift us up. That’s what pushes me and I know it pushes the other girls, and I’m just so excited.”

The game quieted down until the 28th minute when the River Hawks cut a through ball into the 18-yard-box that reached a UMass Lowell striker, who found the upper 90 for an equalizer. It took all of 54 seconds for the Bearcats to regain the lead, however, as the away side failed to clear the ball and O. McKnight gathered the ball and shot it, connecting with twine to take a 3-2 advantage.

“It’s just taking my opportunities and not putting pressure on myself and just having fun,” O. McKnight said. “That’s when the results come and the goals come as well.”

Just over a minute into the second half, Gilmore saved the ball from falling past the backline and raised it into a crowd — where UMass Lowell bumped it into the air. O. McKnight contained the ball and was tightly contested as she sidestepped and fired to the far post, earning her first career hat trick.

“My coaches have been telling me ‘shoot, shoot, shoot’ because I dribble too much,” O. McKnight said. “But I was just getting open shots and then shooting them. Then at halftime, everyone was messing around like, ‘you need a hat trick, you need a hat trick’ and then first seconds of the [half], I just had an open shot and I took it again.”

The Bearcats’ lead shrunk to one in the 70th minute as a corner kick was deflected right in front of the woodwork and the River Hawks just had to tap it in to make it 4-3. Though the Bearcats’ persistence remained, and seven minutes later, Vegoda lined up for a penalty kick and sniped the top corner of the net to go back up by two. Over a minute later, the River Hawks made it a one-goal match with a low-line drive into the net.

The away side continued to pressure for the final 12 minutes, but the Bearcats didn’t crack and junior midfielder Victoria McKnight kicked the ball out as regulation ended. With this win, BU clinches home field advantage in round one of the playoffs and is currently tied with UNH and Maine at the top of the conference.

“I’m just so proud of this team to do this big match to solidify the hold on first place,” Bhattacharjee said. “[We] have an opportunity to play for a conference regular season title coming up on Thursday, [with] what’s gonna be another tough match at UMBC.”

BU concludes its regular season at UMBC on Thursday, Oct. 27. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Retriever Soccer Park in Baltimore, Maryland.

Junior Josh Stone was BU’s highest finisher, making the trip in 24:56.2, good enough to place 31st out of 358 finishers. This was Stone’s third race of the year and his second highest finish of the year, with the first coming at the Iona Meet of Champions — where he crossed the line in seventh.

Senior Marty Dolan was less than a minute behind him in 66th place with a time of 25:33.7. In his third career race for Binghamton, freshman Wyeth Semo finished in the top half of competitors in 174th with a time of 26:43.3. The men had six finishers, with seniors Nick Defelice and Cian Galligan in 188th and 236th, respectively, and freshman Andrew Rosenblatt rounding out the bunch in 245th.

On the women’s side, senior Kyra Guerci led the way in 135th, with a time of 23:22.7. Graduate student Kaylee Stone was not far behind in 154th, finishing in 23:36.3. Sophomore Jennifer Mui was the third Bearcat to clear the course, placing 223rd with a time of 24:27.9. Sophomore Zoe Rose was right behind Mui, just eight spots back in 231st. The women had eight finishers in the race, and had opted to rest top runners such as senior Carolyn Burnell and the team’s top three finishers in three previous meets — freshman Sydney Leitner and graduate students Aziza Chigatayeva and Sophia Ryan.

On the men’s side, Princeton took home the gold with 33 points, rounding out the top three along with Cornell and Stony Brook. Binghamton’s men combined for 519 points, notably ahead of conference rival UAlbany. Stony Brook was the top team on the women’s side with 105 points, 72 ahead of anyone else. Binghamton’s women totaled 833 points.

This meet concludes the cross-country regular season, as the next three potential meets are playoff based. In preparation for that, the Bearcats decided to rest runners in anticipation for the America East (AE) Championships.

In two weeks, on Saturday, Oct. 29, the men will look for their third AE Championship as the women look for their first. The race start is to be announced, but will take place at Jerusalem Hill in Baltimore, Maryland.

“The Lehigh Meet is probably gonna be one of the most competitive meets in the country this year,” said Binghamton head coach Annette Acuff. “On the women’s side, we had everyone healthy. Everyone was there and got a chance to compete, so it went really well … On the men’s side, we’re missing several guys, unfortunately. We couldn’t change the race assignment last minute.”

The highlight of the race for Binghamton came from graduate student Sophia Ryan, who recorded the fastest time ever for a BU women’s runner in the 6k. Ryan crossed the finish line in 20:05.1, which was enough for 24th place, but would have been ninth at last year’s meet. This marks the second consecutive race where Ryan was BU’s top runner on the women’s side, as the Utah transfer won the Iona Meet of Champions two weeks ago.

“That’s a great performance for [Ryan],” Acuff said. “I know that’s her lifetime best in cross country. The top 25 this year is way more competitive. I would say it was probably twice as competitive this year on the women’s side than last year, looking at the field and the teams that were there, and the times showed it.”

After Ryan, graduate student Aziza Chigatayeva finished the race in 20:23.1, while freshman Sydney Leitner crossed the line in 20:39.4, finishing in 47th and 75th places, respectively, out of 417 runners. Both times would have led them to finish much higher in last year’s event, as Chigatayeva’s finish would have placed 13th and Leitner’s 28th. This year’s race included 74 more runners than last year.

“It’s just a different field this year, [it] was a lot more competitive,” Acuff said. “I wouldn’t go off of place, I would go off of time because it’s the same course and that is consistent. If you look at the times, the times are fantastic. I told our girls, don’t let the places fool you because there are 47 teams … and [Chigatayeva] and [Leitner] had fantastic races for themselves. [Leitner’s] a freshman, so that was her first 6k and that went really well. It can be a bit overwhelming, the first time around a big meet like that, but she handled it incredibly well.”

The men’s side was down a handful of runners and had only one runner place in the top half of the competition. Senior Matthew Cavaliere finished the men’s 8k in 24:32.9, placing 170th. This marks the third time this season that Cavaliere has placed in the front half of a race and the second time he has been the men’s top runner.

“[Cavaliere] ran ​​a fantastic race, that was great for him,” Acuff said. “So I was really pleased with his performance, and our freshmen guys had some great performances, that was their first 8k ever. It was great to be able to get them in a good competitive 8k so they’re better prepared for their conference meet and their regional meet down the road.”

Seniors Ryan Guerci and Marty Dolan, who each placed in the top 20 at their last race, were unable to participate in the event.

“We’re still trying to kind of get everyone healthy and ready to go,” Acuff said. “Especially for a conference meet. We won’t compete [with] everyone at ECAC/IC4A in a couple of weeks, but we’ll compete [with] most of the men’s team if they’re healthy. So unfortunately, I just didn’t have everyone healthy and sometimes that’s the way it goes.”

The men’s team competed in the Men’s College Gold while the women’s team competed in the Women’s College Gold.

The Bearcats are next scheduled to compete at the ECAC/IC4A Championships on Friday, Oct. 14. The first race is set for noon at a location that is to be determined.

“This is the strongest women’s team we’ve ever had, hands down, there’s no doubt about it,” said Binghamton head coach Annette Acuff. “We have the most depth and we have the most talent that we’ve ever had, so it’s an exciting year for [the] women. We just got to focus one week at a time and one meet at a time, and just worry about the present and not get too caught up in the future.”

The highlight of the meet came from a trifecta of women runners, as graduate students Aziza Chigatayeva and Sophia Ryan along with freshman Sydney Leitner took the top three places in the women’s 5k. Ryan led the charge, finishing far ahead of the pack in 17:48.00, while Chigatayeva crossed the line 15 seconds later in 18:03.20. In her first collegiate event, Leitner placed in the bronze position, recording a time of 18:08.30. This was also Ryan’s first event for the Bearcats after competing at Utah for four years before transferring to Binghamton. While those two are starting their BU careers in different ways, Chigatayeva is entering her fifth season as a Bearcat, and is coming off first-team all-conference honors last year.

“[Chigatayeva, Ryan and Leitner] are certainly all in great shape right now, so it was nice to see,” Acuff said. “Kind of a surprise that they took the top three individual places. I was hoping they would get challenged a little bit more because [Ryan] led the entire thing from start to finish and [Chigatayeva] was right there with her until the very end. But regardless, those times are quick on that course, so it was good to see where they’re at.”

Rounding out the women’s top-20 performances was senior Carolyn Burnell and sophomore Jennifer Mui, who finished in 12th and 18th places, respectively. Burnell recorded a time of 19:21.10 while Mui finished in 19:32.50. Graduate student Elisabeth Van Tassell, junior Sheridan Talada and senior Kyra Guerci all each finished in the top half of runners with 25th, 28th and 32nd finishes, respectively.

“[Burnell and Mui] ran super well for us and have improved a ton from last year,” Acuff said. “They certainly had outstanding races. It made a big difference for the women’s team performance.”

The men’s team fourth-place finish was headlined by senior Ryan Guerci, who finished in 25:12.70 in the five-mile run, good enough to place fourth. Junior Josh Stone was the other top-10 finisher with a time of 25:30.20. This weekend marked both Guerci and Stone’s first meets of the year. Both Bearcats are coming off top-20 finishes in the America East Championships last season.

“[Stone] missed a little bit of time so I thought his performance was pretty impressive, because he’s missed a little bit of training,” Acuff said. “I think that course is a lot harder on the men’s side too. They’ve got some extra hills that they have to run on the men’s side, but you know [Guerci’s] performance and [Stone’s], those two obviously had a pretty special day.”

Senior Matthew Cavaliere placed 20th two weeks at Colgate and replicated that top-20 finish with a 26:20.00 time, good enough for 16th. Senior Marty Dolan placed 20th, just over eight seconds behind Cavaliere with a time of 26:28.30. Graduate student Dan Gahagan rounded out BU’s top-five runners with a time of 27:19.00, placing right in the middle of runners at 34th out of 68 competitors.

“On the men’s side, we have a 37-men’s roster cap between cross country and track, so I don’t get to keep a large roster in men’s cross country,” Acuff said. “It’s tough for us … We’re tight on the men’s side, that’s not by choice. That’s just what we have to work with.”

The Bearcats are back in action at the Lehigh Paul Short Run. The first race is scheduled to take place on Friday, Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m. on the Murray Goodman Cross Country Course in Bethlehem, PA.

“In respect to how we played and finished, [it] definitely was a little discouraging, but first tournament of the year,” said Binghamton head coach Bernie Herceg. “As we’re trying to figure things out, where people fit and we had some freshmen in the lineup, so it was great for them to just get some experience and see how they perform.”

The Bearcats’ performance was highlighted by freshman Harrison Blech. In his first competition as a Bearcat, Blech finished tied for 55th with 227 strokes. On day one, the freshman shot six over par before bouncing back during round two with a one over par 73. Blech rounded out his performance with a 76 to finish 11 over for the tournament.

“[Blech] played great in our qualifying rounds and he was actually a person who qualified,” Herceg said. “Now when it comes to the tournament, had some solid rounds. He’s also a competitor, a little bit disappointed, he knows he could have played a little bit stronger and scored a little bit better, but all-in-all he played great for his first event. In [Sunday’s] round, he didn’t have the best start, but finished really on a high note and feels good about going into the rest of the season.”

Not far behind Blech was senior Evan Sitts. Sitts was just one stroke behind Blech with a combined score of 228 — good enough to tie for 59th. The senior bookended his performance with a pair of 77s and a two-over round on day two. Sitts is BU’s team captain this year and is coming off a 13th-place finish at last season’s Big Sky Tournament. The captain was also coming off some health issues, but powered through to play in the event.

“[Sitts’] back really flared up, hats off to him because he fought through a lot of pain on Saturday,” Herceg said. “It’s great to see his work ethic, and it really rubbed off on the rest of the team. I’m looking forward to this whole year with having him as our captain and the leadership he provides and the talent that he brings to the table.”

Rounding out Binghamton’s performance were sophomores Shawn Colella and Ryan Millevoi, who shot 18 over and 15 over, respectively. Freshman Sean Shen was in between them with a 16-over tournament. Colella tied with Blech for the best round for BU as he shot a 73 on day two.

Shen and Blech are two of three freshmen on the team this season. The Bearcats graduated four players after last season.

“It’s kind of a fresh start, almost a fresh team here,” Herceg said. “So far the camaraderie as a team has been great. We are a younger team so we’re gonna grow together and this season we have some nice tournaments set up in the fall forum. A couple new ones we haven’t played in a while. Also, we have our home tournament coming up, so it’s really exciting and some of the players are definitely going to be able to compete at one point or the other.”

Binghamton shot combined scores of 310, 295 and 306 on the three days, respectively, as they sat in 13th after each round of the tournament. BU’s total of 911 strokes was 11 ahead of last place and 22 behind St. Bonaventure.

The Bearcats will play next at the Temple/Cornell Fall Invitational from Saturday, Sept. 17 to Sunday, Sept. 18. Tee times are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at The 1912 Club in Plymouth Meeting, PA.

On Thursday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team hit the road for its first America East (AE) postseason game since 2017. The Bearcats faced UMBC but were unable to recover from a 4-0 scoring run from the Retrievers and fell 7-6.

“I thought that we had struggled to beat some of their defenders one-on-one,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “[UMBC] made it difficult at times to be able to create the types of opportunities, shooting-wise, that we’re looking for.”

Freshman defender Jack Fearnley opened up the scoring as he took the ball coast-to-coast and snuck through the UMBC (6-7, 3-3 AE) defense, ultimately dropping the ball right into the net for his first career goal. The Retrievers tied it just over a minute later before sophomore midfielder Trey Sofield took the ball in transition and found an open senior defender Drew Furlong in the middle of the field. Furlong wound up and found the back of the net for just the second time this season as the Bearcats (5-9, 3-3 AE) went into the second frame with a 2-1 advantage.

“I think it was probably a little bit of a breakdown on [UMBC’s] part because nobody picked [Fearnley] up, literally he just went right down and scored,” McKeown said. “The second one, that was just a transition goal where [Furlong] was firm in the field and that is something we were trying to do a little bit [in] every game. So that was more of a transition opportunity that we were pushing to get to get ahead of their guys.”

Senior attack Kevin Winkoff scored seconds into the next period before the Retrievers held Binghamton scoreless over the next 20 minutes of game time. Over that span, starting early in the second period and spilling into the third frame, UMBC scored four times to take a 5-3 lead.

“[UMBC was] playing really physically,” McKeown said. “One-on-one, we had trouble getting by their sticks and I thought their goalie came up with some big saves. I thought during that time we had not a lot, but a couple of really good opportunities that didn’t drop.”

Senior midfielder Andrew Arce stopped the bleeding off a Winkoff feed as the Bearcats cut the lead back to one. A minute later, the Retrievers made it a two-goal lead once more before Winkoff brought the game back to a one-possession game. The Bearcats kept UMBC out of the net until the clock ticked under a minute in the third when the Retrievers sniped the low corner to head into the final period with a 7-5 lead.

“Anytime you give up a goal in the last minute of a quarter, certainly in a tight game, it’s a little deflating,” McKeown said. “Now I don’t think that necessarily affected us in how we played in the fourth [quarter]. I thought we really put up a great effort with how hard we were playing fighting and getting stops on defense.”

Over five minutes into the fourth quarter, senior attack Daniel MacKinney found Arce, who shot the ball past the goalie to cut the lead back to one. Over the remainder of the period, the Bearcats had several opportunities to tie the game, but the UMBC goalie didn’t allow a single ball past him and held the Bearcats scoreless.

“We just didn’t end up getting the second goal we needed,” McKeown said. “We did try some different things whether [it was] attacking from behind, attacking with some different guys and try and do some things off ball but unfortunately it couldn’t do the job.”

Winkoff’s two-goal performance propelled him to third all-time for goals in a single season in Binghamton’s Division I history. His 2.64 goals per game and 3.93 points per game both rank second all-time as well. Redshirt junior goalie Teddy Dolan finished the season with the most saves for a single season for the Bearcats. Dolan racked up 189 saves over 14 games, 21 more than the previous record.

“I always kind of knew [Winkoff] had the potential for a season like this,” McKeown said. “First-team all conference type of year and that is what he got. He’s a really dangerous shooter and very athletic as a dodger.”

The Bearcats were tabbed as fifth in the AE preseason poll, but ultimately grabbed the number two seed in the conference playoffs.

“[This season] was certainly up and down in a lot of different ways on and off the field,” McKeown said. “I think that our seniors just did a great job leading us through the good times and the bad, and they are certainly leaving this program in a better place, and they found it.”

On Saturday, the Binghamton lacrosse team hosted UMass Lowell for its regular-season finale. The Bearcats struggled to keep up with the River Hawks’ defensive efforts, falling 9-7 on Senior Day.

“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t go out on a positive note for [the seniors] on the home field,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “But credit to [UMass Lowell], they outplayed us and they did a good job.”

BU (5-8, 3-3 America East [AE]) failed to open the game’s scoring after the River Hawks (2-11, 2-4 AE) scored first three minutes in. The away side’s defense held Binghamton out of the net for its first eight shot attempts. With less than three minutes remaining in the first period, senior attack Kevin Winkoff wound up and buried the ball into the net to tie the game. Each team was kept out of the cage for the rest of the frame. BU lost all three faceoffs in the period with junior faceoff Matthew Desouza missing his second consecutive game.

“We got to get creative with some things and look to improve that a little bit as we head into the playoffs,” McKeown said.

The second quarter started with BU turning the ball over in the first minute followed by the River Hawks taking four shots in rapid succession. UMass Lowell capitalized, scoring twice in less than a minute to put Binghamton in a two-goal deficit. Five minutes later, River Hawks took advantage of redshirt junior goalie Teddy Dolan falling on a save and scored on an open net. UMass Lowell made it a 5-0 run before junior midfielder Quinn O’Hara stopped the bleeding with less than thirty seconds, as the Bearcats went into the half down four.

“I just didn’t feel like we had that the compete level that we needed to,” McKeown said. “And that we had in the second half that sense of urgency that we need for 60 minutes.”

The Bearcats came out of the break aggressive, putting up two shots before Winkoff found the back of the net on the third attempt to cut Lowell’s lead to three. Each team was kept out of the net before the River Hawks made it 7-3 with under five minutes left in the penultimate period. Two minutes later, Binghamton responded with back-to-back goals just over a minute apart. That momentum was short-lived, however, and with 16 seconds on the clock, the River Hawks cleared the ball and went coast-to-coast, scoring an unassisted goal to make it a three-goal game once more.

“The end of the third quarter really took a little bit out of us,” McKeown said. “Obviously we would have been a little closer at the end if that didn’t go, but again I thought they outplayed us for 60 minutes.”

The final frame began quietly for both teams until graduate student attack Justin Roderka scored a closeup goal off of a freshman attack Matthew Keegan feed. BU had several opportunities to close the lead to one, but two missed shots and a turnover gave the River Hawks a chance to score an insurance goal to make it 9-6. The Bearcats were able to find the net with 47 seconds to go, but it was too late as Binghamton dropped its second consecutive game.

“[UMass Lowell’s] zone was good and we struggled with that,” McKeown said. “Their goalie played really well, especially in the second half, he came up with a lot of saves when we were starting to put more pressure on them.”

Binghamton will head to Vermont for the first round of the AE semifinals. The Bearcats will be the No. 2 seed and take on No. 3 UMBC. The last time they played each other, BU won 12-8.

“[UMBC’s] definitely a team we’re familiar with and gonna be a tough challenge all across the board as it always is in the playoffs,” McKeown said. “We’re looking forward to it and hopefully have a good showing.”

Round one of the AE Championships is scheduled for Thursday, May 5. Faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Virtue Field at Archie Post Athletic Complex in Burlington, Vermont.

NJIT (16-18, 10-8 AE) was on the board early in game one, courtesy of a home run in the first that put BU (13-21, 9-9 AE) in a three-run deficit. Binghamton was held scoreless until the third when two Bearcats got on base and freshman outfielder Logan Haskell drove a ball over the left-field fence to tie the game at three. Each side was held scoreless until the sixth when freshman infielder Nick Roselli came home on a fielder’s choice. Binghamton’s lead did not last long, however, as the Highlanders drilled their second homer of the game to tie it back up. Roselli scored again in the eighth off of an overthrow before BU added two insurance runs in the ninth to take a 7-4 lead. Junior pitcher Jack Collins came in for the close. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced but got out of a two-baserunner jam to record the save.

In Saturday’s game, the Bearcats’ offense was shut down through the first six innings while yielding three runs. In the seventh, BU capitalized on an NJIT error to start the inning. The next three batters got on base, loading the diamond and walking in Binghamton’s first run of the game. Freshman catcher Evin Sullivan walked up to the plate next, and with no outs he pulled the ball deep over the left-field fence, earning himself a grand slam and giving Binghamton a 5-3 lead. The Bearcats scored one more run in the inning to cap off their rally to take a 6-3 advantage. Neither team scored for the remainder of the game, thanks in part to sophomore pitcher John Lumpinski’s relief performance. The Bearcat went four innings, allowing two hits, zero runs and striking out 10 of 14 batters faced, earning him his first win of the year.

On Sunday, scoring came at a premium as Binghamton took the series finale 3-1. Junior pitcher Ryan Bryggman loaded the bases in the third inning before beaming a Highlander to score the game’s first run. In the fourth inning, junior infielder Connor Aoki notched his eighth homer of the year to tie the game. Later in the inning, freshman infielder Devan Bade hit a single with the bases loaded to score two runs. Each team remained scoreless throughout the rest of the game, and Collins earned his second save of the series. Bryggman allowed only one run in six innings, earning his third win of the season and lowering his ERA to 4.41.

BU is now 8-2 in its last 10 AE games since starting conference play 1-7.

The Bearcats are next slated to take on Siena in a nonconference game on Tuesday, April 26. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Connors Park in Loudonville, New York.

Two Binghamton athletes finished in the top half of competitors while freshman Shawn Colella placed dead in the middle, tied for 40th place. Graduate student Justin Lane earned top billing for BU, finishing tied for 25th while junior Evan Sitts was 10 spots behind him at 35th.

Lane finished day one tied for the fourth-best score shooting 69, one shot under par. The Bearcat was unable to recreate the round one performance, dropping 21 spots on day two as he shot 79, finishing eight shots over par. Lane’s scores of 69 and 79 earned him a total score of 148 strokes.

While Lane struggled on day two, Sitts moved up seven spots on the leaderboards despite shooting the exact same score on both days. The junior was consistent on the course, shooting 75 on both days and finishing 10 strokes over par for the tournament.

Colella started the tournament with a four-over-par performance, shooting 74 on day one. The freshman faltered a bit in round two, dropping seven spots with a plus-seven showing. Colella’s final score of 151 tied him with seven others for the 40th spot.

Before this competition, senior D.J. Griffiths had earned back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time in his collegiate career. The junior was unable to make it three in a row, shooting 13 strokes over par and tying for 51st place. Despite the struggles, Griffiths was consistent throughout the tournament, shooting 77 on day one and 76 in round two. Griffiths was the only Bearcat to improve his score on day two. His day two performance elevated the senior eight spots in the standings.

Graduate student Nacho Glagovsky rounded out the group with a score of 14 over par. Glagovsky displayed consistent shooting on day one and day two as the Bearcat shot 77 on both days for a total of 154 strokes for the tournament.

Binghamton finished day one tied for eighth place, shooting 15 over par as a team. The team’s day two score of 305 strokes dropped them three spots for sole possession of 11th place. BU finished the competition with 600 strokes, 40 over par. Marquette won the tournament with a score of 566 shots, six over par.

The Bearcats are next slated to head to the Big Sky Championships from Monday, April 25 to Wednesday, April 27. The tournament’s start time is yet to be announced and will be held at Talking Stick Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Pipe Dream Bearcast returns after over two years as men’s basketball junior guard Jacob Falko sits down with the Pipe Dream Sports desk.

This episode was hosted and edited by Sports Editor Joe Tonetti and Assistant Sports Editor Ian Mills. Post-production work was done by Mills, and all video taken during production is attributed to Managing Editor Sarah Teper. A special thank you to Jacob Falko and Associate Athletic Director for Communications John Hartrick for their support of the show.

The team’s performance was highlighted by senior D.J. Griffiths continuing a career year. Griffiths shot 71 in round one and ended the day tied for first place. The Bearcat was unable to replicate the under-par performance on day two, however. Griffiths finished only one over par in the second round, earning him an even finish for the tournament. His score of 144 placed him at a tie for third place. Before this season, Griffiths had compiled three top-10 finishes in his collegiate career. This spring, he has earned that feat in back-to-back tournaments.

Graduate student Justin Lane had a rocky start, finishing round one tied for 17th place with 77 strokes. The graduate student flipped the script on day two, however, earning the second-best score of the day at 70 to rocket him to fifth place. He finished at 147 and three strokes over par.

In the middle of the Binghamton lineup was freshman Shawn Colella who earned the second top-20 finish of his collegiate career. The Bearcat shot 77 on both days to tie for 16th place. He tied with fellow BU freshman Ryan Millevoi. This is Millevoi’s first top-20 finish as a Bearcat. Millevoi played as an individual and his score did not count toward BU’s tally.

The team’s performance was rounded out by junior Evan Sitts and senior Scott Kleeschulte. Sitts just missed the top 20, tying for 21st with a score of 11 over. The junior opened up play with a 76 in round one, good enough to tie for ninth, but struggled in round two, shooting a 79. Kleeschulte finished 15 over, placing 29th. Graduate student Nacho Glagovsky participated as an individual and finished tied for 27th with a score of 158.

The five team competitors gathered a total of 598 strokes, five behind SHU for first place. The Bearcats finished seven strokes ahead of Bryant University, who finished in the bronze position. There were 42 golfers at the tournament, and 12 of them competed individually.

Binghamton is next slated to travel to the Wildcat Spring Invitational from Monday, April 18 to Tuesday, April 19. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at Radnor Valley Country Club in Villanova, Pennsylvania.

Over the weekend, five Bearcats traveled to the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State to open up the outdoor season for the Binghamton track and field teams. There was no team scoring, but two Binghamton runners placed in the top 10 of their events.

Redshirt senior Dan Schaffer opened the outdoor season, breaking a school record in the men’s 5K, a mark he set during the indoor season. The Bearcat crossed the finish line with a time of 13:45.20, six seconds better than his previous record-setting finish. That time was good enough to place sixth overall and fourth among collegiate runners. The race hosted 223 athletes in total. Schaffer’s finish earned him America East Men’s Track Performer of the Week honors.

The other top-10 finisher was redshirt junior Aziza Chigatayeva who finished ninth out of 36 runners in the 3K steeplechase. Chigatayeva clocked in a time of 10:20.58, less than half a second better than the runner behind her. Last year, the Bearcat set the school record in the event with a time of 10:15.85. NC State hosted over 150 schools at the meet.

The rest of the teams started their outdoor season at the 2022 Lafayette Open. On the men’s side, six individuals and one relay team finished in the gold position. For the women, four athletes and two relay teams finished first.

For the field events, junior Marcrene Jeannot recorded a triple jump of 48-06.00 feet, and sophomore Brandon Love registered a 14-11.00-foot clearance in the pole vault, each good enough for first. The men’s runners finishing first included, graduate student Matt Goyden in the 3K steeplechase (9:40.68), sophomore Evan Parise in the 200 (23.32), sophomore Marcus Johnson in the 400 hurdles (56.02) and senior Dan Gahagan in the 1500-meter event (3:59.79). The men’s relay team took gold in the 4×400, finishing with a time of 3:28.94.

All the women winners were in track events, including graduate student Elisabeth Van Tassel in the 3K steeplechase (11:50.78), sophomore Jenna Chan in the 100 hurdles (14.10), graduate student Carmela Culhane in the 800-meter race (2:23.38) and sophomore Penelope Paldino in the 400 hurdles (1:03.85). The women’s sides won the 4×100 and 4×400 with times of 48.35 and 4:08.63, respectively.

The teams will next head to the William & Mary Colonial Relays this weekend, April 1-2. The meet is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Walter J. Zable Stadium in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Golf takes on Battle at Rum Pointe

Over the weekend, the Binghamton golf team continued its season with the Battle at Rum Pointe hosted by Iona. The Bearcats placed 17th out of 22 teams, but individually senior D.J. Griffiths earned his third career top-10 finish as he tied for eighth.

The Bearcat finished one over par, finishing with a score of 143. Griffiths was consistent on the course, as he stroked 72 on day one and 73 on day two. His finish earned him Big Sky Men’s Golfer of the Week Honors. The next closest finisher was freshman Tynan Jones, who tied for 27th place. The freshman hit 75 each day to finish six over par. Freshman Shawn Colella, graduate student Justin Lane and junior Evan Sitts all tied for 83rd place. The three finished +14, but Colella and Lane cleaned up their performance on day two, moving up 27 and 19 spots, respectively. Senior Scott Kleeschulte rounded out the group, finishing tied for 97th.

The Bearcats are next scheduled to head to the Sacred Heart Invitational from Sunday, April 10 to Tuesday, April 12. The three-day tournament is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at Great River Golf Club in Milford, Connecticut.

Tennis teams extend losing streaks following weekend matchups

Both the women’s (0-17) and men’s (1-15, 0-5 Mid-America Conference [MAC]) tennis teams competed this weekend, each adding to their losing streaks. The women’s side fell 0-7 at Northern Illinois, extending its losing streak to 27 matches. The team has not won a match since the 2019-2020 campaign. The men’s side also got swept, losing to Toledo and bringing their drought to nine matches. Of the seven sets, the men had to forfeit three due to a lack of players.

The women will take on Temple next on Saturday, April 2. First set is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the TU Pavilion Tennis Courts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The men’s side will head to Northern Illinois on Friday, April 1. First set is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Chick Evans Field House in DeKalb, Illinois.

All six Bearcats are not guaranteed to leave the program. Each athlete can evaluate their options, which includes continuing their career at BU. Currently, none of the six players have received official offers from other schools.

Tinsley’s career at BU started his freshman season as a bright spot on a team that missed the conference playoffs. He led all AE freshmen in scoring with 11.6 points per game and finished tied for third overall in rebounding with 7.4 per game. In that season, Tinsley ranked second in the entire country in minutes per game, but this past season he averaged only 17.5 minutes per game, sixth on BU. The junior also started all 46 games during his first two seasons with the team. That streak continued through the nonconference portion of this season. Once AE play started, however, the Bearcat came off the bench for all but one game of the remaining schedule.

Last season, Tinsley led the team in rebounding with 6.6 boards per game. This year, he corralled only 3.6 per game, finishing fourth on the team. In his first two seasons at BU, Tinsley was the team’s second- and third-leading scorer respectively, but dropped down to eighth on the roster in the 2021-22 campaign. As of now, the Bearcat is eighth in total rebounds and sixth in rebounds per game in his Binghamton career, per sports-reference.com. Tinsley has two years of eligibility left.

Sophomore guard Kellen Amos, junior forward Bryce Beamer and junior guard Hakon Hjalmarsson also submitted requests to transfer next season. Each Bearcat participated in at least 20 games this past season, but none averaged more than 14 minutes per game.

Hjalmarsson started in 20 games as a Bearcat and has two years of eligibility left. The Bearcat’s collegiate-best performance came against Boston University last December when he went 7-10 from the field to tally 18 points. He also broke double digits in scoring against Oneonta and Hartwick that same year.

Beamer scored in double digits three times last season but never played more than 19 minutes in a game. Amos’ collegiate highlight came in the second game of the 2021-2022 campaign where he scored a career-high 26 points in a win against Sacred Heart. Amos started two games over two seasons and scored in double digits six times last year. He was fifth on the team in points per game. Beamer has two years of eligibility left, and Amos has three.

The last two Bearcats who entered the portal are freshman guard Brett Hutchison and senior guard Alex Brodsky who saw action in five and six games, respectively. Hutchison averaged 1.8 minutes per game, while Brodsky averaged 2.2. They each scored one point this season.

With the exception of Hutchison, each player entering the portal joined BU under the regime of former head coach Tommy Dempsey. Dempsey departed the program at the end of BU’s 2020-21 campaign with current BU head coach Levell Sanders taking his place.

With six players looking to leave the program, the Bearcats are left with nine players still committed to the team. According to Verbal Commits, BU has offered spots to three high school seniors and James Madison freshman guard Andrew McConnell, who saw little game time with the Dukes last season and entered the transfer portal earlier this month. So far, none of them have officially committed.

Currently, no other Binghamton men’s basketball players have entered the transfer portal.

“Overall, we’re seeing progress,” Borshoff said. “I think that we’d still like to finish higher, continue getting better. As a team, I don’t think we reached our goal so that’s something that should drive us forward in the future.”

Day one began as 165-pound sophomore Brevin Cassella competed in his first NCAA Championship bout. The sophomore was seeded 25th and fell in a 6-4 decision to Harvard sophomore 2022 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) champion Philip Conigliaro. Cassella returned in the consolation bracket to face Cleveland State redshirt sophomore Riley Smucker. Earlier this year, Cassella fell to Smucker, but on Thursday, he flipped the script and came away with a 7-0 decision to earn his first-ever win at the NCAA Championships. This win also advanced him to day two.

“Definitely seen progress out of [Cassella], just gotta continue growing,” Borshoff said. “[Cassella’s] got a lot of talent, looking forward to what he can do the next three years.”

Next on the mat was junior Jacob Nolan competing in the 174-pound weight class. Nolan lost to the No. 3 wrestler by a 12-4 major decision. The Bearcat bounced back, however, taking his second bout by a 3-1 decision. In the consolation bracket, Nolan then took on the No. 14 competitor out of Cornell, sophomore Chris Foca. This is the third time the two have been slotted to face off with one another. Nolan defeated Foca in the first two bouts by way of a medical forfeit and decision. However, the Bearcat was pinned in the rubber match, ending his season.

“[Nolan] also ended up in a tough spot in the bracket,” Borshoff said. “No. 3 right off the bat from Michigan. I think we were a bit overwhelmed in that bout, then came away with a nice win over his opponent from Maryland. It’s just strides of the program, going to the NCAA tournament and winning matches, and beating Big 10 guys to do it. That just proves you belong there, proves that he’s in that conversation among the best guys in the country.”

In the 197-pound class, DePrez was seeded eighth and went 2-0 on day one. In his first bout, he beat the No. 25 wrestler in an 8-2 decision. Next, he faced off with the No. 9 athlete and came away with a 5-4 decision where his opponent earned a takedown in the waning seconds, advancing DePrez to the quarterfinals on day two.

“[DePrez] just gave up a takedown to avoid any dangerous positions knowing that he was going to win the bout,” Borshoff said. “It was actually a really smart way for him to finish that.”

To cap off day one, heavyweight redshirt senior Joe Doyle went 1-1. The 285-pounder was seeded at 20th and lost his first bout in a 10-2 major decision. Doyle rebounded and grabbed a 6-0 decision to advance in the consolation bracket.

“I love the way [Doyle] wrestles,” Borshoff said. “A lot of coaches asked me about [Doyle] and obviously he turned some heads within the arena.”

In session three, Cassella started the action for Binghamton. The sophomore only competed in one bout, losing in a 2-0 decision and concluding his first-ever competition at the NCAA Championships.

Next, DePrez took on the top-seeded athlete. The Bearcat opened with a takedown, but ultimately fell in a 4-3 decision. DePrez’s opponent was awarded a takedown late in the bout after an official review and went on to win the tournament. Doyle was the lone Bearcat to win during the third session as he dominated his opponent from Illinois with a 14-4 major decision.

“It was a frustrating match, especially with the controversial overturning of a non-takedown for his opponent that really gave the match away,” Borshoff said. “Nobody in the country could watch that match and say that [DePrez] is not right there in the conversation to be a national champion.”

In session four, DePrez needed a win to earn All-American honors. He competed against the 14th-seeded competitor, and the Bearcat led 2-1 late in the bout. However, a final reversal ended DePrez’s run at the tournament.

Doyle concluded his season as he lost in a 7-4 decision and remains undecided as to whether or not he will return next season. DePrez, however, is set to return to the mats for BU next year.

“The program is getting better, but no one on the team or myself is satisfied with where we finished,” Borshoff said. “We look forward to getting better in the future.”

“I thought we came out ready to play,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “It was a manageable 12-point halftime deficit, I felt like that wasn’t that bad. We came out and cut it to eight points and then [Vermont] just went on another run and we never recovered. That’s why they’re the first-place team in the league.”

Two minutes in, BU (12-17, 8-10 AE) took its only lead of the game with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard John McGriff. Vermont (27-5, 17-1 AE) responded with a quick 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead. However, the Bearcats stayed close to UVM early in the first, highlighted by a 3-pointer by senior guard Christian Hinckson that cut the deficit to one. That stay was short-lived for BU as UVM scored 10 straight points while the Bearcats went nearly five minutes without scoring. After that run, the Bearcats stopped the bleeding with two layups from Hinckson and a fadeaway 3-pointer from junior guard Tyler Bertram.

“We always tell our guys to stay confident,” Sanders said. “We just tried to try to explain to them that a lot of things that were happening, we were doing to ourselves like giving them open threes.”

With under three minutes until the break, the Catamounts knocked down a contested shot from deep to extend their lead to 17. Junior guard Jacob Falko responded on the next possession, driving past the defense and putting the ball through the bottom of the net. The Bearcat did not finish there, as with a minute to go, he pushed through the defense again and flipped in the driving layup while being fouled. Falko converted the and-one from the charity stripe as the Bearcats trailed 39-27 going into halftime.

“Fifteen of those [points] are things that we did we could have done better,” Sanders said. “That’s a different game, but that’s exactly what happens when you play Vermont. Because they’re so good offensively. They punish you for everything you do wrong.”

In the first half, the Catamounts converted on 53.3 percent of their shots, beating the Bearcats’ mark of 42.3 percent. Each team shot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc, but UVM shot twice as many 3-pointers. Binghamton also conceded seven turnovers compared to the hosts’ one, resulting in Vermont outscoring BU 9-0 in points off turnovers for the half.

“Guys were trying to make plays,” Sanders said. “A lot of [the turnovers] were over dribbling and not passing the ball when they should pass the ball. They were trying to be aggressive, you don’t mind those aggressive turnovers.”

Binghamton started the second half scoring the first four points to cut its deficit to single digits. The momentum was short-lived, however, as Vermont piled onto its eight-point lead with a 17-3 run sparked by four offensive rebounds and a flurry of free throws. In the first 12 minutes of the half, Binghamton committed 11 fouls, leading to 11 shots from the line for UVM.

“That happened to us a lot this year where we put we put teams at the line and we give them the ability to score a free throw instead of making them score baskets,” Sanders said.

During the second half, the Bearcats went a full eight minutes without scoring a field goal. In that span, Vermont doubled its surplus from 11 to 22 as BU went 0-6 from the field. In the second half, Binghamton shot 27.8 percent from the field while missing all six attempts from beyond the arc, allowing Vermont to more than double BU’s tally in points, 35-15.

“You have to give [Vermont] credit for the defense that they played,” Sanders said. “It always has something to do with it. They make it tough, they’re physical.”

The Bearcats came into the season picked to finish last in the AE preseason coaches’ poll. However, in Sanders’ first year at the helm, the team was seeded sixth in the playoffs and won a road postseason game.

“I was telling the guys in the locker room that we can be disappointed, but in context, we did something that nobody expected us to do,” Sanders said. “We can be proud of that and then something we can build on … I want to thank all the fans, the students that came out and supported us throughout the year, that crowd seemed to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and it really, really helped us out.”

“I think they think we’re a hockey team, it’s like three quarters for hockey, right?” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “No, I’m just really proud of the effort my kids always gave every game, every day. It was a tough one tonight, but again that Vermont team is pretty special.”

In the first quarter, Binghamton (9-20, 5-13 America East [AE]) sprung forward 11-4 four minutes into the game after four of the five Binghamton starters scored early. After a fast-break layup by junior guard Denai Bowman, the Catamounts (20-10, 13-5 AE) turned the corner, scoring 13-straight points. Bowman hit a jump shot with just under a minute and a half to go to stop the bleeding, but UVM ended the quarter on a 17-4 run to take a 21-15 lead.

“Once again [Bowman] offensively and defensively even getting hit the way she did and coming back in the game, just really proud of her,” Shapiro Ord said. “She’s a worker.”

In the second period, junior guard Clare Traeger put two buckets past Vermont to narrow the lead down to two, but Vermont continued to make shots and regained its six-point lead with four minutes to go. That was when senior guard Hayley Moore splashed home a 3-pointer, spurring a 13-5 run to bring Binghamton back in front by two going into the break. This was the senior Bearcat’s 100th and final game for BU.

“Instead of getting frustrated when [Moore] didn’t get to play her freshman year, she just put her head down,” Shapiro Ord said. “And that’s what she did to get where she is, she is not just a shooter. Defensively, she was terrific for us the last couple of years. She’s just a worker.”

Binghamton used that momentum to hold the Catamounts off in the penultimate quarter. Bowman scored seven points and dished out two assists in the period as BU increased its lead to six. The Bearcats shot an efficient 63.6 percent from the field in the third but took five fewer attempts than Vermont after turning the ball over five times in the frame.

“The tough thing for us for the game was you can’t give a team [24] points off turnovers,” Shapiro Ord said. “That broke our back right there.”

In the fourth quarter, the Catamounts continuously chipped away at the Binghamton lead, but it wasn’t until the four-minute mark that the hosts took their first lead since the second quarter. After Vermont took a nine-point advantage with 47 seconds to go, BU scored eight points in a flurry, but the hosts hit a string of crucial free throws late to stay ahead, ending the Bearcats’ season. UVM scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, more than doubling Binghamton’s 11-point tally.

Bowman led the way with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 53.3 percent shooting. After junior forward Birna Benonysdottir got into foul trouble, junior forward Jalyn Van Dyke was forced into more action. She was just behind Bowman with 16 points. Moore finished the last game of her BU career with 10 points.

“[Van Dyke] came in ready to play and we needed not just [Bowman] and [Benonysdottir] to score for us,” Shapiro Ord said. “We had three which is awesome.”

The Bearcats won four of five games to end the regular season. Their only loss in that stretch was also to the Catamounts.

“They really do truly love each other and they’re just such a good chemistry, they’re just a great group,” Shapiro Ord said. “I love their effort — they never give up.”

“Our team came out with the right mentality and focus, we were excited to have a home game,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “I thought it was very obvious with the way they started the game that they were dialed in and ready to make it happen.”

The Bearcats (2-3) started the scoring early as sophomore midfielder Jesse Barer put the ball in the back of the net under a minute into play. Shortly after, the Leopards (1-2) gained possession but were unable to convert on two shot attempts. BU responded quickly off of the rebound as sophomore midfielder Madison Murphy added the second goal of the game thanks to an assist from junior attack Kenna Newman. As the clock crept past the nine-minute mark, freshman attack Olivia Muscolino scored in a free position shot to give BU a three-goal cushion.

“[Barer] came out and did a phenomenal job in the draw circle area, competing and getting possessions,” Allen said. “She was able to capitalize both as a scoring and feeding threat.”

The Leopards mounted a miniature comeback as they went on a 3-1 run before the Bearcats scored seven straight goals. The run was sparked by a sophomore midfielder Hayley Weltner goal before BU outdid its first-quarter start to begin the second frame. Binghamton put five goals past Lafayette before the midpoint of the quarter. Muscolino scored three straight goals, nearly doubling her season tally in just over two minutes. The Bearcat offense slowed down in the final eight minutes of the half as they scored just one more goal. However, the defense remained stout. Lafayette scored just one goal while getting off three shots in the period. The six-goal quarter is tied for the team’s best this season.

“We knew [Muscolino] was going to turn the corner here soon and have a breakout game,” Allen said. “She’s a tremendous player and for her, it came down to just getting the confidence going early on in today’s match.”

Weltner also doubled her season’s goal total as the sophomore opened the second half scoring to record her second-career hat trick. Senior attack Emily Masera and Muscolino each added a goal to make it 14-4. Then, with just under four minutes in the third quarter, Murphy scored her second goal and gave BU a new season-high in goals scored. The Bearcat then added her second and third straight goals moments later to bring her total to four and complete a 6-0 third period for BU. Binghamton’s defense held Lafayette to just four shots and one shot on goal in the penultimate quarter.

“The girls have really bought in on the game plan and when they’re playing cohesively and all on the same page, they’re capable of shutting down really talented offenses,” Allen said. “I thought they did a really good job with their communication and really understanding their roles.”

The Leopards opened up the scoring in the final frame and ended a drought that lasted nearly 19 minutes. Lafayette closed the game with three straight goals, but thanks to a 12-1 run over the second and third quarters, the gap was too wide to overcome.

“We’ve been in a position the last few games where we’re getting down a few goals and not able to claw our way back in or not able to score back-to-back goals with the exception of the Colgate game,” Allen said. “That was one our focuses going in today, to get on the other side of the coin and make sure our response and intensity remained the same every possession.”

Muscolino led the team in goals with five on just seven shots, with Murphy just behind her with four goals. Barer contributed to the scoring effort with two goals of her own and added four assists as well. Junior goalie Emily Manning played the entire match, allowing eight goals and saving three shots.

The Bearcats are slated to host Marist on Saturday, March 5. First draw control is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“We didn’t compete well,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “I think this was a bad loss for us, obviously we’re missing a couple of our starters in the lineup, but at the end of the day, that’s why we have more guys on the team than just 10. I was hoping for a better effort out of some of the guys that lost their matches today, and that’s where the difference was.”

The match started with 125-pound true freshman Nick Curley losing in a 9-8 decision, handing the Crimson (4-5, 4-5 EIWA) a 3-0 lead. The Bearcats (7-11, 5-3 EIWA) followed up with an 11-1 major decision from senior Anthony Sobotker in the 133-pound match to take the lead at 4-3.

In the next bout, 141-pound sophomore Ryan Anderson took to the mat to compete against his former high school teammate. Anderson won the bout in a 5-1 decision for his eighth-straight win while extending BU’s lead to 7-3.

“The guy [Anderson] wrestled did a really great job of doing nothing,” Borshoff said. “He just tried to avoid action positions, and he tried to keep the match close and did a pretty good job of that, but [Anderson] was still able to control the entire bout and come away with that win.”

In the 149-pound match, redshirt junior Michael Zarif wrestled out of his weight class and was pinned, allowing Harvard to leapfrog the Bearcats and take a 9-7 lead. Then 157-pound sophomore Tyler Martin lost in a major decision as the Crimson extended its lead to six points.

While sophomore Brevin Cassella won the following 165-pound matchup in a 6-0 decision, the Bearcat was unable to get a pin and tie the meet score. Borshoff said both Cassella’s and Sobotker’s opponents were actively trying to avoid getting pinned rather than win.

“Their opponents didn’t try to win their matches,” Borshoff said. “They just tried to go out and keep them as close as they could. I suppose you could say they did a good job of that because Sobotker and Cassella didn’t come away with pins or tech falls, but it was just total domination. I was happy with the effort out of both of those guys as well.”

BU lost its next two bouts in a row in the 174-pound and 184-pound matches. Junior Jacob Nolan and redshirt sophomore Cory Day each lost in decisions as Harvard led 19-10 with two bouts to go.

In the penultimate match of the day, junior Sam DePrez wrestled up a weight class in the 197-pound bout. The junior was able to come away with a 3-2 decision to pull BU within six points. With only one bout left, 285-pound redshirt senior Joe Doyle stepped to the mat needing a pin to give Binghamton a chance. Similar to Cassella and Sobotker, Borshoff said Doyle’s opponent was stalling, and the heavyweight came away with a 12-1 major decision as Binghamton fell 19-17.

“[Doyle’s] opponent got called for stalling four times in the match, and unfortunately the ref allowed the opponent to lay flat on the ground for the last 30 seconds and didn’t pull the trigger on that last stall call which would have disqualified Harvard’s wrestler,” Borshoff said. “[Doyle] totally dominated, and the referee just didn’t pull the trigger on that which was disappointing. But [Doyle] did everything he possibly could to pin that guy, and the guy just laid in a ball on the ground, so it’s frustrating.”

The defeat to the Crimson concluded the Bearcats’ regular season as they enter the postseason with the EIWA championships slated for early March.

“We have a lot of positive things to build on going into the conference tournament,” Borshoff said. “That is very independent of this one dual meet result. Although I’m not happy with the dual meet result today, and I don’t think we wrestled particularly well, I think we’re still in good position for the conference championship, and I think we’re in a good position to send a lot of guys to the NCAA [Championships].”

The EIWA Championships are scheduled for Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6. The all-day tournament is set to take place at the Newman Arena in Ithaca, New York.

“[The] guys wrestled tough for the most part,” said Binghamton assistant coach Fred Garcia. “We had some guys out of the lineup and some last-minute lineup changes and [we] wrestled a top-10 team and came out with three good wins.”

The match began as the Bearcats (7-10, 5-2 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association [EIWA]) lost their first five bouts against the Big Red (12-2, 5-0 EIWA). Though the BU athletes were not able to come away with a win, several of the matchups were closely contested. True freshman Nick Curley competed in the 125-pound match and lost in a 13-9 decision. Then, senior 133-pounder Anthony Sobotker was unable to pick up a win, losing in a 5-2 decision. BU lost the following three bouts with a pin, decision and then a technical fall as the Bearcats found themselves down 20-0. In two of those three matches, Binghamton’s athletes wrestled out of their weight class.

“[The] guys wrestled up a weight class so we can fill a live today with some of our last-minute changes,” Garcia said. “[Junior] Christian Gannone [moved] up from [133] to [141]. [Redshirt junior] Michael Zarif wrestling from [141] to [149].”

It was in the 165-pound match when BU got its first win. Sophomore Brevin Cassella took down Cornell senior Jake Brindley in a 7-2 decision. The sophomore has now won four straight bouts and is 16-11 on the season. Coming into Saturday’s match, Cassella was ranked 32nd in RPI rankings.

“Very solid match [at] all three positions,” Garcia said. “[Cassella’s] wrestling the right way right now. We’re excited for him. He’s winning the matches he’s supposed to win. The way he wrestled today that’s solid work-like performance, that’s what wins matches in the postseason … He’s got a super high ceiling.”

The match continued with junior Jacob Nolan who made back-to-back wins for BU. The junior nearly matched Cassella’s score, winning in a 6-3 decision in the 174-pound event. After Saturday’s match, Nolan has a 13-10 record and sits at 26th in RPI rankings. Garcia said Nolan and Cassella are in alike positions right now.

“[Nolan] wrestled composed and really the right way to win and those two, they’re kind of on similar paths, they’re kind of bubble NCAA guys,” Garcia said. “But the way they wrestled today, they took care of business. That’s the way if those guys both wrestle like that at the conference tournament, they’ll find themselves in the NCAA tournament.”

The match continued with losses from redshirt sophomore Cory Day in the 184-pound class and junior Sam DePrez in the 197-pound match. Both BU athletes lost in major decisions to nationally ranked opponents. S. DePrez was filling in at 197 for his brother, redshirt senior Lou DePrez.

“It’s exciting to flip some of those matches later in the conference tournament,” Garcia said. “Excited for the future when we got a full lineup against those guys. We’re to the point where we can not only wrestle with teams like Cornell and beat teams like that.”

In the final bout of the day, 285-pound redshirt senior Joe Doyle ended the match on a high note as he pinned his Big Red opponent. The heavyweight is now 13-6 on the year and has won five straight matches. He is ranked 21st in RPI rankings for his class and of his six losses, three have been caused by medical forfeits or injuries. Doyle was facing a familiar opponent in Cornell senior Brendan Furman.

“[Doyle’s] always been electrifying, dangerous,” Garcia said. “He’s finding that right balance between being solid and dangerous at times. Today was a good example, he wrestled a guy today that he’s actually lost to three times in a row in his career, he really just stayed solid, thick and stayed composed. It was dangerous at the right time and got the pin.”

The team is next scheduled to take on Harvard on the road to conclude the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 19. The first bout is set for 11 a.m. at the Malkin Athletic Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“We came out swinging but they came back at us,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “It’s a game of runs … We got to get four quarters together.”

The Bearcats (5-15, 1-9 America East [AE]) opened the game making shots and shutting Vermont’s (14-9, 8-4 AE) offense down. After a jumper from junior guard Cassidy Roberts, BU led 9-0 as the team made four of its first five shots. The run ended when the Catamounts swiped the ball and threw a heave from BU’s 3-point arc, sparking a fast break that ended in a 3-point play after a foul. The Bearcats cooled off, hitting only two more field goals in the quarter which the Catamounts used to creep back into the game as they trailed 13-10 entering the second frame.

“I felt like we were ready,” Shapiro Ord said. “I was really excited and once a couple of bunnies didn’t go, we got in our head a little bit.”

Throughout the second quarter, the teams were locked in a tight defensive battle, but Vermont consistently earned second-chance opportunities. The Catamounts corralled four offensive rebounds in the first six minutes as the Bearcats’ lead diminished to one point. As the clock was winding down and both teams were locked 21-21, Vermont drove and junior forward Birna Benonysdottir committed a blocking foul that gave it two shots from the charity stripe with one second remaining. The Catamount knocked down one of two, giving a one-point lead to the away side at halftime.

Of BU’s 39 total rebounds, junior guard Clare Traeger grabbed the most with a career-high 17.

“[Traeger’s] always crashing the boards and she [thought] ‘What can I do to help my team?’ and that’s something that she knew she had to do,” Shapiro Ord said. “We still need to get a few more back baskets from her … We’re gonna start getting some double-doubles from her.”

Throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Bearcats struggled to replicate the offensive surge they displayed in the first quarter. Until junior guard Denai Bowman made a free throw with 3.2 seconds to go, the only BU athlete to score in the third quarter was Benonysdottir, who scored seven points in the penultimate quarter while adding a block. Despite her efforts, Vermont turned its one-point lead into a seven-point cushion going into the final frame after holding BU to 20 percent shooting from the field in the quarter.

“A lot of teams are doubling [Benonysdottir] because it’s very hard to defend her,” Shapiro Ord said. “I thought she did a really good job of just saying, ‘I got to get to the basket.’”

The final quarter began with a layup from Traeger which the Catamounts followed up with a 9-0 run as BU went on a scoring drought that lasted over six minutes. With three minutes left, senior guard Hayley Moore was open in the paint and laid the ball into the bucket, breaking a dry spell for both herself and the team. Benonysdottir added a free throw to give her a team-high 15 points, but with only 13 second-half points, BU could not keep up with the Catamounts.

“Our little bunnies weren’t going in, some easy shots,” Shapiro Ord said. “When we came out like gangbusters and we’re knocking down shots, we still missed a few early but that started to get into a couple of kids’ heads I think and it affected them throughout the second half.”

Besides Benonysdottir, no Bearcat scored more than five points. The junior was also the only starter to shoot above 25 percent from the field while being the only athlete to knock down a 3-pointer. Coming into the game, Bowman led the team in scoring and was second in the AE with 14.7 points per game. In Wednesday’s match, she recorded only five points on 2-8 shooting.

“We’ve been waiting for someone else consistently to step up,” Shapiro Ord said. “Each game we need three kids to step up at least and [Bowman] had it tough. [Vermont] did a great job on her, really keeping the paint clogged so she couldn’t just drive in there. We need a couple more people to step up.”

Binghamton is scheduled to take on New Hampshire on Saturday, Feb. 12. Tipoff is set for noon at the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.

“I thought we played our hearts out,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “I’m so proud of this team, we battled. For us to beat them, we really needed to just have every possession count and that’s the mindset we went in [with]. We missed a few little bunnies here and there, which of course adds up but I can’t even tell you how proud I am of this team. This record is not what it should be.”

BU (5-12, 1-6 America East [AE]) trailed by two with less than a minute to go with a chance to put the game away. Stony Brook (18-2, 9-1 AE) air balled a shot, giving BU a chance with 25 seconds remaining on the clock. The Bearcats passed it around the perimeter until junior guard Denai Bowman drove to the right and kicked it out to junior forward Birna Benonysdottir at the top of the key. The junior missed the shot from beyond the arc, but BU was quick to foul and send the Seawolves to the line. After Stony Brook only hit one shot, Binghamton had one more chance with 2.8 seconds to go. The team once again went to Benonysdottir who faked a shot, dribbled to her right and was fouled as she released the ball giving her three shots at the free throw line. The junior drained the first two but missed the tying shot.

“[Benonysdottir’s] an excellent free throw shooter but unfortunately just didn’t make that last one,” Shapiro Ord said. “And that’s not what lost the game for us. You can’t look at that last play ever … It was other things that happened.”

Each team struggled early, missing a combined eight field goals before a Seawolf knocked in a jumper. The shot helped spark the Stony Brook offense as the away side went on to finish the quarter with 15 points. The Bearcat offense stalled a while longer, but three layups by Bowman helped give the team life. After the junior made it 12-6, the Seawolves knocked down their first 3-pointer which junior forward Jalyn Van Dyke matched on the following possession. The BU offense relied on Bowman and Van Dyke for the bulk of its scoring as the juniors combined for 31 of the team’s 48 points. Van Dyke’s 15 points are a season-high for her.

“[Van Dyke] is a terrific player and when she just plays with the flow of the game, she really does a great job,” Shapiro Ord said.

In just over two minutes of play in the second quarter, Binghamton went on a 7-0 run fueled by another Van Dyke three. Benonysdottir hit a jump shot during the following possession, giving the Bearcats the lead for the first time all game. The Seawolves regained the lead, but Van Dyke answered with one more three, sparking an 8-0 run to give BU a seven-point advantage. Stony Brook eventually started making shots, but still trailed by one entering the half.

“When you see the ball go through the hoop and you’re getting some stops, it just really energizes you,” Shapiro Ord said.

The beginning of the third quarter saw BU falter offensively while Stony Brook found its rhythm. After Bowman knocked a jumper in early, the Seawolves went on an 11-0 run to take an eight-point lead. During that span, BU was outrebounded 10-5, five of those boards being offensive.

“We let them get a couple extra shots and we missed a few opportunities,” Shapiro Ord said.

After a timeout from Shapiro Ord, senior guard Hayley Moore knocked down a three to give BU its first points in nearly seven minutes. The Bearcat defense held and after a successful trip to the charity stripe, BU found itself within three once again. Binghamton capped off its 12-0 run with a layup from Bowman to go up four points heading into the final frame.

Each team struggled to make shots in the fourth quarter, but the Seawolves’ seven made free throws in the fourth lifted them over the home team.

Binghamton plays twice this weekend against the University of Maine as part of its five-game homestand. It will be the team’s third and fourth games in less than a week.

“I know they’d rather play than have practice,” Shapiro Ord said. “So we’re excited to have Maine come in here and we’ll have them for two games so it’ll be a lot of fun.”

The first of those games is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 4. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

“​​I’m proud of this team,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “Hartford came in here fighting, we went on runs, they went on runs in the fourth quarter … But that overtime, I just thought we had it but again, you can’t have empty possessions.”

With the Hawks (2-16, 2-5 America East [AE]) up 59-57 and 19 seconds to go, Hartford missed two free throws to give BU (4-10, 0-4 AE) one last chance to win the game. Junior guard Cassidy Roberts inbounded to junior guard Denai Bowman who drove, got free and before she could shoot was called for a charge which fouled her out.

“With us having eight, it’s tough when you have foul trouble and when one of your best players, [Bowman], is out there playing with three [fouls] and then putting her out with four, she made it into overtime, but that was rough,” Shapiro Ord said. “That last shot when that call didn’t go our way, but it went in, it would have been another bucket, but instead, she fouls out, might be a different end game.”

The same shooter then missed two more free throws, giving BU another shot with 12 seconds remaining. Senior guard Hayley Moore took the ball up, handed it off to junior guard Clare Traeger who drove and kicked it out to junior forward Jalyn Van Dyke for a 3-point shot but missed as the buzzer rang.

“It’s a heartbreaker, we put ourselves in a position to win and go into overtime and have an opportunity,” Shapiro Ord said. “We have the ball at the end when we needed it and shots just weren’t falling for us tonight for whatever reason.”

Going into the fourth quarter, BU had an eight-point cushion. The frame began with junior forward Birna Benonysdottir hitting a layup which the Hawks followed up with an 18-2 run over the next seven minutes to take the lead. As the clock ticked past the one-minute mark, the team fed Bowman in the paint who wrapped around a defender and drew a foul while making the layup and free-throw to bring the deficit within three. After a Hartford free throw and a scoreless possession from each team, Bowman pulled through again, driving and nailing a midrange jumper as she was fouled. She proceeded to miss the free throw but corralled the ball back and was fouled for the third time. With 15 ticks to go, she was given an opportunity to tie the game at 50 and executed, capping off a seven-point minute for the junior.

“[Bowman’s] been tremendous when she gets her shot off,” Shapiro Ord said.

The start of the game was a similar story to the rest of the season, as BU relied on Benonysdottir and Bowman for all but two of their first-quarter points. Benonysdottir’s hot start quickly fizzled as she shot seven for 23 from the field, missing all six of her threes. The Bearcats as a whole only shot 3-27 from beyond the arc, but Shapiro Ord said the game plan coming in was to feed the ball inside and to hit free throws.

“That was the game plan: let’s go inside out, I think we were trying to force a little bit too much on the outside and we just kept talking about attacking the rim, getting to the free-throw line, and we got to continue to do that,” Shapiro Ord said. “And the other thing is usually we make more of our free throws. We only went 63 percent tonight, so that was tough as well.”

Outside of Bowman and Benonysdottir, Roberts was the only player to get to the line, converting on five of her six shots. The junior recorded her first double-double of her collegiate career, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 boards. She also had a team-high six assists. Similar to Bowman, in the waning minutes of overtime, Roberts committed her fifth foul and had to leave the game.

“Then [Roberts] obviously fouling out at the very end,” Shapiro Ord said. “You want your point guard, you need your point guard in there, but we had to give a stop, we had to put them to the free-throw line. It’s just the way it kind of ended.”

The Bearcats are scheduled to take on UMBC next. Tipoff is set for this Saturday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 pm at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

“There’s a ton of nationally ranked opponents out here,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff, per bubearcats.com. “I’m happy to get three guys on the podium out here. It’s the first time we are leaving with three place winners. This event has given us a lot of things that we need to work on moving forward.”

Senior Anthony Sobotker and redshirt senior Lou DePrez each took seventh in the 133-pound and 197-pound weight classes, respectively. In the 285-pound weight class, redshirt senior Joe Doyle rounded out the podium-finishers, placing eighth in his third competition of the year.

No. 5 seeded DePrez split his two bouts on day one, winning a 10-4 decision in his first match before losing in a 2-0 decision to the fourth-seeded 197-pounder. On day two, he went 2-1 and won the seventh-place match by way of an 8-2 decision. His sole loss on the day came at the hands of the sixth-seeded Purdue redshirt junior Thomas Penola via a 7-5 decision. Penola is the No. 12 197-pound wrestler in the country, per intermatwrestle.com, and finished third at the meet.

Sobotker matched L. DePrez’s day one record at 1-1. Sobotker was the 10th-seeded competitor and lost in an 11-2 major decision in his first bout before winning his second match by fall. On day two, the senior won his first bout once again after pinning his Columbia opponent. Sobotker went on to drop his second match by way of a close 4-3 decision. However, in the seventh-place match, the Bearcat rebounded and earned a 5-4 decision against Purdue redshirt freshman Matt Ramos. Ramos was seeded sixth and is No. 24 in the country at 133-pounds.

Doyle recorded another 1-1 day one record for the Bearcats. In his first match, he won by fall to move on to a matchup with the No. 1 seed. Ohio State redshirt senior Tate Orndorff, who is ranked sixth in the country, took Doyle down in a 10-2 major decision. The 285-pound Bearcat fared better on day two, winning his first matchup with an 8-6 decision. Doyle opted not to compete in his final two bouts and medically forfeited.

Nine Bearcats competed in the 26-team meet, including redshirt senior Nick Lombard who went 2-2 on the first day of competition. BU finished 19th with 28.5 points while No. 13 Nebraska grabbed the gold position with 125 points.

The Bearcats return to the mats on Friday, Dec. 10 to take on North Dakota State and Edinboro University. The first bout is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the West Gym in Vestal, New York.