While many Binghamton University students spent spring break working on their tans at the beach, the men’s lacrosse team spent the break working on playoff positioning. The work paid off in two America East conference victories and two close losses to nationally ranked teams.

Binghamton (3-6, 2-0 AE) dominated Hartford (1-10, 0-3 AE) in its second home game on March 31. The disoriented Hawks took just 14 shots to Binghamton’s 52 en route to a 16-4 loss.

‘Hartford has had four head coaches in the last few years,’ said BU coach Ed Stephenson. ‘In the past they have been very good. We don’t take them lightly.’

Sophomore J.P. Wioncek won 16 of his 21 faceoffs, giving Hartford little chance to make up an early deficit.

A week later, BU faced the Vermont Catamounts (3-8, 0-2 AE), who had some success out-of-conference in 2007, including a big win over Denver. The Catamounts appeared ready to challenge Binghamton for the fourth AE playoff spot.

Binghamton, however, took control of the game with three early goals from sophomore attack Jake Boyce.

The two conference victories sent a message to the lower tier of the league. Though BU is rebuilding in 2007, it is still in good position to join UMBC, Stony Brook and Albany in the playoffs.

Close losses to defending national champion No. 3 Virginia (9-1) and regional rival Colgate (7-5) served as tune-ups for BU’s tough upcoming conference matchups.

Despite winning just three of 13 faceoffs, Binghamton led the Cavaliers 6-5 heading into the fourth quarter. BU was poised for its first upset over a defending national champion when, two minutes into the final period, UVA scored a flurry of three quick goals.

‘We had the lead going into the fourth,’ Stephenson said. ‘Then we didn’t get the ball to the attack effectively. We would get it to the offensive end and keep it at the midfield where it became difficult for us to make our substitutions.’

Boyce’s fourth period goal proved futile as the Cavaliers answered with two more scores, making the final score 10-7.

‘It’s not enough for us to be close anymore,’ said Boyce. ‘A lot of people are telling us, ‘Good job,’ and all that, but Binghamton lacrosse is at the point where it’s not good enough to just come close.’

During the week’s stretch of games, Boyce scored a school record four consecutive hat-tricks, dating back to a loss at Syracuse.

‘I didn’t have to do much,’ Boyce said. ‘I got a lot of good looks from people feeding me. A lot of [the goals during the streak] were assisted.’

Boyce’s goals were only part of the winning equation. During his streak, the Bearcat offense averaged over 10 goals per game. In 2006, Binghamton scored only 7.2 per game. The rejuvenated offense is a result of better ball movement and improved transition from defense to offense.

‘We’ve slowed down our offense,’ Boyce said. ‘Our defense is giving us the ball a lot more. The transition opportunities have been there, and that helps things a lot.’

Boyce’s streak came to an end at Colgate on Tuesday, where he was held to just one goal. Despite taking 33 shots to Colgate’s 24, the banged-up Bearcats fell to the Red Raiders by a score of 6-12.

BU was suffering from minor injuries to several key players, including Boyce and senior midfielder Chris Bernard.

Binghamton also had trouble clearing the ball from the defensive end. The Bearcats fumbled six clears, leading to easy transition goals by the Red Raiders.

‘We’ve gotten better every week, up until [Colgate],’ Stephenson said. ‘For the first time all year, we came out kind of flat.’