Despite a solid showing both offensively and defensively on Sunday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team could not find a way to top no. 14 Stony Brook on Senior Day, falling, 16-11.
BU (4-9, 2-3 America East) set out to shut down the nation’s no. 5 scoring offense. After giving up a goal to Seawolves’ freshman midfielder Ryland Rees only 15 seconds into the match, the Bearcats locked down on defense, not allowing a goal for the next 10 minutes. Defensive discipline against SBU (11-3, 4-1 AE) from junior goalie Tanner Cosens and senior defenseman George Deignan impressed BU head coach Scott Nelson.
“George [Diegnan] hustled a lot and I thought Tanner [Cosens] had another great game,” Nelson said. “Those two have been playing great on defense, and continue to lead us.”
At the end of the first quarter, the defense let up, allowing Stony Brook to find the back of the net three consecutive times. The Seawolves then began the second quarter by scoring three more in a row. Sophomore midfielder Liam Reaume finally put the Bearcats on the board with 9:59 left in the half. Senior midfielder and captain Zach Scaduto followed with a goal of his own less than a minute later.
The Bearcats headed into halftime trailing, 10-3. With Binghamton facing a seven-goal deficit, Nelson wanted his players to keep chipping away on offense and to continue to look for openings in the second half.
“We told them to move around more on offense and to get more three-man looks around the net, which is something we work on a lot,” Nelson said. “ [Sophomore midfielder] Ben [Kocis] and Zach [Scaduto] ran those a lot in the second half and looked pretty good.”
BU’s defense upped its pressure in the third, making key stops on defense to allow the offense back in the game. A save by Cosens was converted into a long offensive possession, capped by an incredible over-the-shoulder score by freshman midfielder Joe Licata, drawing loud applause from the fans. The Bearcats’ defense stayed strong, holding the Seawolves scoreless throughout the frame.
Binghamton and Stony Brook traded blows to start the fourth. The SBU offense then went on a run to break the game open, scoring four unanswered goals to push its lead to 15-7 with just under five minutes left in the game.
With the clock winding down, the Bearcats refused to quit, scoring four straight of their own. Kocis netted his second goal of the day, and junior midfielder Matthew Kaser rifled in his 15th goal of the season.
Although they rallied late, the Bearcats weren’t able to keep pace with the high-powered Stony Brook offense, which sealed the game with six goals in the fourth quarter.
“It was disappointing that we got in a hole there so early,” Nelson said. “We really couldn’t dig out of it that late in the game despite great play.”
Before the contest, nine seniors were honored on Sunday for their hard work and commitment to the program. Nelson described the Senior Day ceremony as a bittersweet moment.
“We’ve had a lot of fun with those guys,” Nelson said. “They’re really smart guys who care about the program, so it was pretty tough. But they’ll be a part of the program forever, and they’re going to represent us well out in the real world.”
The Bearcats are set to take on Vermont this Saturday in their regular-season finale. Face-off is set for 7 p.m. from Virtue Field in Burlington, Vermont.