With just 12 seconds left in regulation, midfielder Stephen Smith took the ball from the upper-left, broke his defender, and netted the game-tying goal right over the stick-side shoulder of Villanova goalie Joe Canuso, completely erasing the Bearcats’ 6-1 deficit.
The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team emerged victorious three minutes into the overtime period, as attack Rob Williams set a pick on midfielder Jeff Santucci’s defender, allowing Santucci to score the game-winning goal.
“We never quit, no matter what the score is towards the end of the game,” said junior attack Matt McNamara. “You gotta look out for us.”
Binghamton’s 7-6 rally against Villanova 10 days ago was just the start of the team’s amazing week. The Bearcats improved to 4-1 on the season after winning their home opener against the 17th-ranked Hobart Statesmen 7-5 on Tuesday, and downing Sacred Heart 10-8 on the road Saturday.
The Bearcats’ excellent play has garnered national recognition, as they were ranked 16th by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and 18th in the Inside Lacrosse Top 20 Poll for the first time in the program’s five-year history
Though proud of his team’s accomplishment, head coach Ed Stephenson is keeping the achievement in perspective.
“We don’t really concern ourselves a lot with the rankings and so forth,” Stephenson said. “Certainly I think we deserve to be there, but we’re one-third through the season right now with two-thirds to go.”
In the 7-5 win over Hobart, Binghamton’s defense was the story. Goalie Kevin McKeown had 13 saves and held Hobart’s potent offense to just five goals, less than half of what they averaged entering the game.
“The defense always goes unnoticed because there aren’t really stats in the box score for defenders, but the last few games they have all played really well and it’s easily overlooked sometimes,” McKeown said.
The game started very slowly, with Binghamton netting the only goal of the first period. Hobart midfielder Nick Currie would eventually give the Statesmen a 4-3 lead in the third, but McNamara scored off an assist from midfielder Brian Chaapel less than a minute later. Binghamton attack Nate Kerstein netted the final goal of the third period with 1:30 remaining, and the Bearcats would never look back, scoring twice more in the fourth while Hobart could only muster one more goal.
In the Bearcats’ most recent victory on the road against Sacred Heart on Saturday, Binghamton jumped out to a 4-1 lead through the first period. The Pioneers battled back in the second period, and after three consecutive goals to end the third, had taken an 8-7 lead. Binghamton once again had some late-game heroics prepared for the fourth, beginning with the tying goal by freshman attacker Chris Mulheron with 10:46 left. Junior attack Rob Williams gave the Bearcats the lead three minutes later, and Binghamton would score once more en route to a 10-8 victory.
Freshman attack Jake Boyce had three goals, while Mulheron and Santucci each contributed two. J.P. Wioncek won 19 of 22 faceoffs, a strong rebound from his performance against Hobart when he lost 11 of 15.
Mulheron, who has at least one assist and one goal in every game this season, leads the team with 16 total points and was named America East Rookie of the Week.
“The Rookie of the Week award is a great honor,” Mulheron said. “There were three other freshmen who could’ve easily gotten that award and I just feel lucky that I was chosen.”