After three consecutive losses, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team aims to get back in the win column in its final game of the regular season. The Bearcats (5-8, 1-3 America East) are set to take on conference rival UMBC this Saturday with a bid to the America East tournament on the line.
Postseason hopes — With a win and losses by Stony Brook and Vermont, Binghamton would take the third seed into the conference tournament.
The Retrievers — UMBC (5-7, 2-3 AE) is coming off a 16-10 loss to Albany, following back-to-back wins against Stony Brook and Vermont. The Retrievers currently sit in fourth place in America East standings, one game ahead of the Bearcats.
Home field advantage — UMBC, which has scored nine or more goals in all but one game this season, is 4-1 at home in 2013 and 21-4 at home all-time against conference opponents during the regular season. In their 10-year history in the America East, the Retrievers are 38-13 against other members of the conference.
Strong fourth quarters — The Retrievers are 2-0 this season when tied after three quarters. They outscored Mount Saint Mary’s 3-1 in the fourth quarter on March 23 en route to a 10-8 victory, and defeated Stony Brook on April 13 after winning the fourth quarter battle 4-3, leading to a 14-13 win.
The little things — The Retrievers pose an interesting threat to the Bearcats as they can win face-offs, score in bunches and perform well in the clutch.
Binghamton head coach Scott Nelson said that his team will have to do all of the little things in order to remain competitive throughout the match.
“UMBC is very good on offense, and they have a very good faceoff guy, so that’s a tough combination,” he said. “We’re going to have to play great defense in the beginning … They’re going [to] have the ball more in the beginning, and we know that, and so we’re going to have to play great D, and [junior goalie] Max [Schefler] is going to have to have a great game in goal. And then when we get it, we think we can score … It’s not going to be easy so we’re going to have great possessions when we get it.”
Who to watch — Binghamton red-shirt junior attack Matt Springer tied a Binghamton men’s lacrosse record with his 32nd goal of the season last week. Junior midfield Michael Antinozzi set the record a year ago. Both players can seemingly score at will, but at the cost of a plethora of shots. Nelson stressed that this weekend, the Bearcats must develop better shots on offense.
Face-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday at UMBC Stadium.