In its final match of nonconference play, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday to take on No. 12 Harvard, falling 17-12. After falling behind 10-3 by halftime, a nine-goal second half from the Bearcats was not enough to recover from their early deficit.

I thought we competed really hard,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I thought we fought hard … I was proud of our guys, how they kinda stuck with it and closed the gap toward the end, and we just weren’t able to quite do enough there.”

Despite losing the game-opening faceoff, Binghamton (4-5, 2-0 AE) opened scoring when senior attack Gage Adams found twine. Harvard (7-2, 1-1 Ivy League) responded soon after, and an unsuccessful clear attempt by the Bearcats allowed Harvard to score once more. The Crimson stayed hot, winning the ensuing faceoff and finding the back of the net. A successful finish from graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris saw BU cut the deficit to one, but the Crimson struck back once more in the final second of quarter one to make it 4-2.

“I think offensively, it was actually one of our best games, in terms of how we played offense,” McKeown said. “I just don’t think we gave the ball enough through clearing the ball from the defensive end.”

Harvard opened the second quarter with a goal just 40 seconds into the period, but sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo lit up the board for BU soon after to keep pace. The Crimson fought back, swinging into full gear and scoring five straight over the next 5:27, with four of their five goals following a failed clear attempt or a turnover. The foes continued to trade shots with BU rattling off four and Harvard five, but the scoreboard remained static as the first half came to a close.

“I don’t think there were a ton of adjustments [at halftime],” McKeown said. “I thought we had some good looks in the first half, where their goalie came up with some good saves. I think we worked some good opportunities in the second half, maybe we improved those opportunities a little bit.”

Harvard continued its scoring run into the second half, adding two more goals. Binghamton responded with consecutive goals of its own, courtesy of Adams and Ferris. After another score from the Crimson, three consecutive saves from senior goalie Connor Winters slowed the pace of play, but Harvard eventually found the net once again. Soon after, junior midfielder Gavin Jacobsen found net to cut Harvard’s lead down to 14-6. Both teams then found twine during their respective final possessions of the quarter, as Ferris lit up the scoreboard for BU with just two seconds remaining in the quarter.

“[Winters] was great,” said McKeown. “I thought he bailed us out defensively when we had some breakdowns. He played with a lot of energy, a lot of poise, some really big saves. I wasn’t surprised to see that out of him, he’s a guy we count on to do that.”

Reinvigorated by their last-second score, the Bearcats hit the ground running in the fourth quarter, as sophomore midfielder Brady Sharkey found net just 17 seconds into the quarter. The Bearcats continued to hound Harvard, with Adams scoring three consecutive goals to cut the once 15-6 deficit to 15-11 with 9:35 to play. Looking to slow the Bearcats’ surge, Harvard slowed its pace of play before a late score ended BU’s run. Both squads scored once more as the clock ran down, with Binghamton’s comeback attempt ultimately falling short 17-12.

“We’re gonna get back to work, get ready for a quality opponent in Albany,” McKeown said. “All teams that we’re finishing up with are ones that we’re obviously pretty familiar with, so we’ll dig in, take it one week at a time and try to make a run here at the end of the season.”

The Bearcats will look to stay undefeated in AE play against Albany on Saturday, April 5. Faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.