After its first matchup against Sacred Heart was postponed last Saturday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team lost a hard-fought game against Marist, 12-9, in its season opener Sunday.
Despite sophomore attackman Sean Gilroy opening scoring with a BU goal, the Red Foxes (2-0) put up four goals of their own in five minutes to take a 4-1 edge late in the first. Sophomore midfielder Tyler Deluca stopped the bleeding for the Bearcats with an unassisted goal of his own to make the score, 4-2.
After a quick Marist score to open the second stanza, Binghamton took control of the quarter when Gilroy and junior attackman Zach Scaduto combined for five straight goals. Gilroy added two, and Scaduto put up three in under 10 minutes for a quick hat trick of his own. Senior attackman Tucker Nelson had three assists during the run, which helped him to set the career-assist record at Binghamton, at 56, just one game into his senior season. The Bearcats entered halftime with a 7-5 lead against Marist, as the Red Foxes failed to get back on the board during the period.
Marist senior midfielder Drew Nesmith opened scoring in the third quarter before another Marist goal tied the game up midway through on a man advantage. BU answered three minutes later with a goal from senior attackman Paul O’Donnell to give the Bearcats a one-goal lead headed into the final 15.
Marist then jumped out to a hot start in the quarter, scoring three goals in the first five minutes. The first two were netted by senior attackman Colin Joka, who completed his hat trick for the day. Nesmith then added his fourth goal to tilt the scoreboard back in Marist’s favor, 10-8.
After the quick start to the quarter, the tempo tapered until the final minutes. Marist sophomore attackman J.D. Recor netted his third goal of the day with 3:42 on the clock to push the Red Fox’s goal total to 11. Binghamton was able to get one back when Gilroy added his fourth goal of the game to cut the lead two, but it came late, with 2:18 left on the clock.
Binghamton turned up the pressure with a barrage of late shot attempts, but Marist senior goalie Dave Scarcello stifled any comeback attempt. Marist added a late goal when sophomore defenseman Frankie Brier heaved the ball the length of the field right to his teammate Joka, who subsequently netted his fifth goal of the contest.
The Red Foxes outscored BU, 5-1, in the fourth quarter and 7-2 overall in the second half. Binghamton’s offense stalled in the period after scoring seven first-half goals, unable to get the same open looks they got in the first 30 minutes of the game.
The team also struggled mightily with a man advantage. After opening the game with a man-up goal, BU was 0-5 the rest of the game with the advantage. The most pivotal man-up situation came right after Marist tied the game at eight at the start of the fourth. Marist was assessed two separate one-minute penalties. Marist went on to kill the man-up situation and add two goals to blow the game open.
Next up for the Bearcats is a match against No. 13 Cornell on Tuesday. Face-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Greater Binghamton Sports Complex in Binghamton.