Maybe Hartford should have tried using an extra man on the field.

The Hawks fluctuated between man-to-man coverage and zone defense in Saturday’s America East contest, but nothing seemed to work, as Binghamton’s men’s lacrosse team scored a school-record 16 goals against them. Sophomore midfielder Stephen Smith led the Bearcats with six goals, as they easily won their conference opener 16-8.

“This was obviously our best offensive performance in the school’s history,” said Smith, who fared particularly well against the zone. “I felt that we got some good looks throughout the game and for the most part finished when we had them.”

Smith scored three early goals as Binghamton (5-3, 1-0 AE) jumped ahead 6-0 midway into the second period, but Hartford (2-7, 0-2 AE) would fire back, cutting the lead to 7-4 at halftime. By the middle of the third period, it looked like the Bearcats were about to fall apart, as the Hawks scored three of the first four goals in the second half to cut their deficit to one.

“We kind of relaxed a little bit, did some things that were not part of our game plan and we kind of let them back in the game a little bit,” said head coach Ed Stephenson. “And that was across the board. The offense just wasn’t as deliberate as we need to be and on the defensive end we got a little bit lackadaisical clearing the ball.”

Seeing their lead dwindle, the Bearcats returned to fundamentals and rallied, ending Hartford’s hopes of a comeback in the same fashion the contest had started, with a 6-0 run led by three Smith goals. Smith’s sixth and final goal tied the Bearcats’ scoring record at 13, and junior attack Rob Williams broke it two minutes later with a score of his own.

The Bearcats outshot the Hawks 40-16 and freshman midfielder J.P. Wioncek dominated the faceoffs, winning 19 of 28 draws. Junior attack Matt McNamara had four points on the day, but freshman attack Chris Mulheron failed to score for the first time this season, ending his streak at eight games.

While Hartford is the only team in the America East without a legitimate shot at advancing to the playoffs, Saturday’s win was crucial for the Bearcats after dropping two consecutive non-conference games.

“I think the two losses, coupled with the fact that it was the start of the conference season, gave us an increased sense of urgency,” said senior goalie Kevin McKeown.

The Bearcats will next visit the Vermont Catamounts Saturday at 1 p.m. before returning home Tuesday to host Colgate at 4 p.m.