After two scoreless games for senior midfielder Joe Licata, the co-captain of the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team put his name back on the score sheet with his fourth hat trick of the season in Saturday’s game against UMBC. Despite Licata’s hat trick, however, the Bearcats were unable to capture a win, falling 13-6 to UMBC (3-6, 1-2 America East).

The game began with a bang for UMBC, as six different Retrievers netted goals before Binghamton (0-9, 0-3 AE) scored its first of the contest. Two of the goals in that 6-0 stretch, scored by freshman midfielder Brandon Galloway and senior midfielder Josh Jordan, were tallied six seconds apart within the final 15 seconds of the first quarter. The Bearcats struggled mightily from the onset on both sides of the ball.

“We started a little bit flat,” said BU head coach Kevin McKeown. “We just didn’t come out ready to go.”

Binghamton didn’t register a goal until the second quarter, when Binghamton finally found the back of the net. The first BU score was netted by Licata at the 10:51 mark. Sophomore attack William Talbott-Shere and junior midfielder Jon Perotto added to Binghamton’s tally shortly after, supporting a small run and pulling the Bearcats back into contention in the game.

“I think that [Licata] let the game come to him a little more,” McKeown said. “We also moved him to attack, which helped with his goals.”

The Bearcats were attempting to keep up their run shortly thereafter, but when Licata fired off a shot, the ball bounced off the post and into the possession of UMBC. From there, UMBC’s junior attack Ryan Frawley was able to net his 23rd goal of the season to end the second period. It was the third goal of the game that BU gave up in the final minute of the quarter.

The third frame sparked a glimmer of hope for the Bearcats when Licata scored an early goal, but the Retrievers immediately fired back, and UMBC’s senior midfielder Gunnar Schimoler got his first goal of the season. Frawley found the back of the net again for UMBC, but senior attack Griffin Konen answered Frawley’s goal with one of his own. Konen has scored in every game for the Bearcats this season after coming off of last season with just one goal. UMBC posted one more score before the third period ended, putting the Retrievers up 10-5.

Licata began the fourth period the way he began the third — with a goal. But, for the Bearcats, this was their last of the game. The Retrievers put up three more goals before the end of the match and solidified their victory.

Binghamton was outdone by UMBC in every statistical category, including shots, caused turnovers, faceoffs and ground balls. The Retrievers outshot the Bearcats 34-24, with BU sophomore goalie Robert Martin coming up with 10 saves. UMBC players Frawley, Jordan and junior attack Brett McIntyre, sit in the AE top five for goals scored, while Binghamton’s top scorer, Licata, does not sit in the top 10.

With this defeat, the team continues its winless season, but McKeown remains optimistic.

“Conference is more wide open this year,” McKeown said. “Every team has had a loss, so I don’t think that all hope is lost for us.”

The Bearcats will spend the week preparing to play a home game against the University of Vermont, who are 3-1 in conference play.

Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 13 at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

Correction: April 8, 2019

A previous version of this article incorrectly referenced junior midfielder Jon Perotto instead of senior midfielder Joe Licata in BU head coach Kevin McKeown’s second quote. Pipe Dream regrets the error.