With its playoff hopes on the line, the Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team refused to let its season dwindle away without a chance to enter its seventh consecutive conference tournament.
The Bearcats (4-9, 1-3 AE) nearly blew another late lead, but hung on to save their playoff hopes with a 13-12 victory at the University of Hartford (3-10, 0-4 AE) on Saturday for its first conference win of the year.
Curiously, the Bearcats were beaten in nearly every statistical category besides the one that mattered — the score. Binghamton lost the shot margin (46-30), ground ball battle (40-33) and faceoffs (6 of 28) and committed more turnovers (20-17), but Binghamton head coach Ed Stephenson pinpointed why the Bearcats were able to pull out a win against all statistical odds.
“Potent offense,” he said. “We had the ball about 25 percent of the time because they won the ground balls and they won the faceoffs … When we did have it, we were highly effective. You’ve gotta be that effective with those kind of stats.”
Despite pulling out the victory, that kind of win is not what Stephenson would prefer.
“I give our guys a lot of credit for making the most of our opportunities on the offensive end, as limited as they were,” he said. “But for us to continue moving forward, we’ve got to do a better job on the ground ball play, and that starts with the faceoff and throughout the entire field.”
The match was a game of runs as the Bearcats sprinted to a 4-0 lead and expanded it to a 7-1 advantage in the second quarter. Hartford followed with six unanswered goals to tie it up. Binghamton then went on a 6-1 run to go up 13-8 with 8:47 left in the game. But the Hawks made another run, scoring four straight to pull within one goal. However, the Bearcats, who never trailed in the match, held them off for the final three minutes to secure the crucial win.
Offensively, the Bearcats were led by freshman attack Matt Springer, who had four goals and two assists. He now has 28 goals this season, setting the single-season program record for goals previously held by Phil Cavallo, who scored 27 goals in 2003 and 2004. He is also four points shy of Matt McNamara’s 2004 program record of 45 points.
“There have been games where different guys shine, but he’s been very consistent all year,” Stephenson said of Springer. “He’s taken advantage of his opportunities and made the most of them; he’s got a high shooting percentage and he handles the ball well in tight spots, so his skills have definitely allowed him to make the most of his opportunities.”
Also contributing against the Hawks were senior midfielder Andy Cook, with three goals, and a pair of freshmen, Tyler Perrelle and Shane Warner, who netted two goals apiece.
Sophomore goalie Jordan Marra kept the Bearcats in front, making a career-high 13 saves in the contest.
“I thought he played well,” Stephenson said of his goalkeeper. “It’s difficult to stand in that net when you’re there for 80 percent of the time, but he did a good job. Thirteen saves, that’s a lot of saves, and he made a big save at the end, so he did a real nice job for us.”
The Bearcats have one regular season match left, set for Saturday at Albany. There are currently three teams vying for two postseason spots: Binghamton, Albany and Vermont. The playoff scenarios for the teams depend on Saturday’s action. Firstly, the Bearcats must win in order to have any chance whatsoever at the playoffs. If Vermont beats America East top seed Stony Brook, a Bearcat win will earn them the fourth seed in the tournament. If Vermont loses and the Bearcats win, there would be a three-way tie for the spots in which case the decision would go down to a series of tiebreakers.
The America East has not yet released what specifically the tiebreakers would be, but Stephenson mentioned that even goals scored could make a difference in the Albany game.
“I know we’ve never been in this situation before,” he said. “So we’ll be prepared to do whatever we need to do to get in, regardless of what scenario is out there … We’ll try and accomplish a win with as many goals as we need.”
The Bearcats are scheduled to face off at 7 p.m. Saturday in Albany. The America East semifinals, should the Bearcats make it, are set for Wednesday, May 5.