Despite standout performances from senior midfielder Zach Scaduto and redshirt sophomore attack Sean Gilroy, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team failed to get its first win on Saturday at Hobart, falling 12-6 to extend its losing streak to three games.
BU (0-3) started off the game strong, scoring four straight goals in the first half to bounce back from a 2-0 deficit. Gilroy had a goal and assist in the half, rifling one in with 1:46 left in the first frame. Then, less than a minute into the second quarter, he set up fellow sophomore attackman Thomas McAndrew to tie the game at two.
Scaduto started his scoring binge early, notching back-to-back goals to push the tally to 4-2 with 7:41 left in the second quarter.
Not to be shaken off, the Statesmen (2-2) ended Binghamton’s run with two consecutive goals of their own. Both Hobart and BU scored to kick off the third quarter, but that was the end of the Bearcats’ offense for a while. The Statesmen responded by scoring five straight goals before Gilroy found Scaduto to complete his hat trick of the day.
“Zach epitomizes what it means to be a college athlete,” said BU head coach Scott Nelson. “He’s a great student; he’s gotten better every day on the field, and of course he’s our captain. Just the way he continues to get better and better every day, while at the same time being as tough as can be is amazing.”
But for Binghamton, Scaduto’s effort was too little too late. Hobart sealed the blowout win behind two closing scores to make the final, 12-6.
Although the Bearcats are winless so far this season and have allowed at least 10 goals in every contest, BU head coach Scott Nelson doesn’t believe defense is to blame for his team’s early struggles.
“I think it’s a whole team thing,” Nelson said. “We’ve really got to do a better job on the offensive end and on the face-offs too. If the other team has the ball too much and too long, then obviously the defense is going to wear down.”
Nelson also believed his team was on the right track to start off the game, but poor execution and ball control cost them the match.
“We started off following the game plan really well,” Nelson said. “Then we made some offensive mistakes where we couldn’t take the lead, and then they countered with some nice plays.”
Binghamton is set to open its home schedule against Delaware on Saturday, where the Bearcats will look to the seniors to lead them to their first victory of 2016.
“We need [senior defender] George Deignan, [senior midfielder] Johnny Maher and really all of those guys to step up,” Nelson said.” I just don’t think we’ve put it all together yet, so our Saturday home opener is going to be really exciting for us.”
First face-off against Delaware is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.