Coming off of an America East (AE) conference loss against UMBC last weekend, the Bearcats looked to take home a win this past Friday night against No. 2 Albany. However, the Great Danes’ competition proved too tough for Binghamton (4-10, 1-4 AE), who ultimately fell to Albany, 18-7.
Both teams came into the match ready for competitive play. The first six minutes of the game featured the Bearcats and the Great Danes (11-1, 4-1 AE) going shot-for-shot until Albany was able to net its first goal. Binghamton was unable refocus and went on to surrender another goal just two minutes later. The remainder of the quarter saw the Bearcats faltering on the defensive end as it permitted Albany to net two additional scores. The Great Danes allowed only one BU goal, courtesy of freshman attack Sean Makar and assisted by senior midfielder Stephen Petrelli.
“I thought we were okay in certain aspects and then in other aspects we didn’t do great,” said BU head coach Kevin McKeown. “I think once we got into a settled game of six-on-six, we were okay there, but in between the lines, clearing the ball, we didn’t do great.”
Binghamton came out attacking at the start of the second quarter, putting up a goal just under two minutes into play from junior midfielder Joe Licata. However, the Bearcats’ efforts failed to shift to defensive play, as Albany put up five consecutive goals. Licata and Petrelli were able to net two additional scores to help BU come back, but their efforts were not enough. The Great Danes secured one more goal before the buzzer sounded, putting the score at 10-4 going into the locker room at halftime.
During the third quarter, BU was able to hold Albany to just three goals and earned a goal itself. In goal, redshirt sophomore Kevin Carbone recorded an impressive five saves over this period. As play continued into the fourth quarter, however, Albany regained its footing, posting five more goals before the clock ran out. Thanks to the offensive efforts of Petrelli and senior attack Thomas McAndrew, BU was able to net two shots as well, but the game still went overwhelmingly in favor of Albany, 18-7.
“I thought Carbone played pretty well on goal, too,” McKeown said. “He saw some tough shots from some very high-level competitors and I thought he was able to fight a couple off that normally would go in for them.”
Albany currently ranks No. 1 in the AE Conference standings and No. 2 nationally. If Albany can retain its first-place status in the AE, it will host the conference tournament in early May.
BU still has one final conference match set for this Friday at home against Stony Brook, who currently ranks second in the conference. This past weekend, the Seawolves overpowered UMBC to earn a close victory.
“For us, it’s really going to be about putting a great game together for our seniors, with it being their last home game and most likely last game as well,” McKeown said. “Our hope is that everybody will rally around them and we’ll be able to get a win against Stony Brook.”
The Bearcats are set to face off against the Seawolves this Friday at 7 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.