With three minutes remaining and the championship game locked at 1-1, Dominic Young shot from about 8 feet out and to the right of the goal, and placed the ball perfectly between Buffalo’s goalie’s legs. With that, Binghamton University’s club field hockey team (co-ed) secured its first New York State Field Hockey League title.

“It’s an amazing feeling … last year we didn’t make it past the quarterfinals, and everyone underestimated us because we’re such a new team who doesn’t have a Division I field hockey team above us,” said sophomore captain and offensive sweeper Nicole Keane.

This past Sunday’s game in Buffalo was the final game of three for the Bearcats over the weekend, the first two being played in Syracuse to determine the Eastern New York Division winner, which the Bearcats won by first beating Cortland and then Syracuse.

Having just come off a 5-0 win over Cortland the previous weekend, Binghamton felt it knew how to win against that same team again, and was able to execute accordingly. Six different players scored a goal in the effort for BU — standard field hockey games are 11 vs. 11, but Cortland was only able to field seven players.

Later in the day Binghamton took on Syracuse in a battle for the Central New York championship. ’Cuse had the advantage of the hometown fans and a deep roster that included more reserves than Binghamton’s two. Keane called a timeout which, on the wings of strong play up the line in transitions and capitalization of corner plays, led to a 5-2 Binghamton lead. BU would hold on to win the game and the Central title by a final score of 5-4.

Then in Buffalo on Sunday, Binghamton once again faced a team with home-field advantage, this time going up against Western Division champion Buffalo. To make things more difficult for BU, they lost two players for the title game, giving them exactly 11 — the number necessary to play — but no substitutes to rest tired legs.

The title game was a low-scoring affair, with Binghamton up 1-0 at the half. BU kept possession for the majority of the game, and Buffalo had few shot opportunities. But Buffalo caught a break and was able to tie up the game on a stroke (the equivalent of a penalty shot), as BU’s goalie Catherine Sullivan was beat despite nicking the ball with her glove.

Young was then able to come through with his late game-winning goal to give BU a 2-1 lead, and shortly thereafter Binghamton collected its trophy.

“The next time around, other teams will treat Binghamton with respect,” said Shailesh Khadapkar, who plays center-mid.