Coming off of a 2-11 record last season, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team opened its season on Saturday afternoon, kicking things off with a tough loss to the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions Marist. The Bearcats dropped the game 12-4.

“Today was not indicative of who we are as a team,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown, per bubearcats.com. “We didn’t start well coming out of halftime and we just let it snowball. I thought [sophomore goalie] Teddy Dolan played outstanding for us in the goal. Give Marist a lot of credit, they are a seasoned group, and it showed today.”

Four different Bearcats scored in the loss. Freshman midfielder Thomas Greenblatt scored his first career goal to tie the game at one in the first quarter. After three unanswered goals by the Red Foxes (1-0), junior midfielder Jackson Rieger and junior attack Justin Roderka scored back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to one heading into the locker room at halftime.

At that point, Marist scored eight straight goals to put the game away. Binghamton had difficulty clearing the ball and establishing possession as the match progressed.

Throughout the game, Binghamton often started its offense from behind the goal and hoped for their attackmen to facilitate the offense, especially junior attack William Talbott-Shere.

The disparity in possession was clear from the difference between the shots on goal each team had. The Bearcats finished with 12 shots on goal as opposed to Marist’s 29; however, Dolan handled the high volume of shots well, with 17 saves throughout the match.

Senior faceoff specialist Peyton Smith was a force to be reckoned with for the Red Foxes, as he went 15-of-18 against Binghamton’s redshirt freshman faceoff specialist Brandon Rizzuto and sophomore defender Drew Furlong.

Although Marist redshirt junior goalie Jake MacGregor had a quiet game, he handled the Bearcat shooters well, tallying eight saves.

Marist sophomore attack Jojo Pirreca played an important role in Marist’s offense. Out of 14 shots and 10 on goal, Pirreca converted on four and tallied an assist to lead all players with points and goals.

Pirreca was joined by Marist sophomore midfielder James Lyons and redshirt junior attack Jake Weinman in the Red Foxes’ offensive production, as Lyons was an offensive threat on dodges from up top, tallying three goals and an assist. Weinman added another two goals as well.

Despite its five man-up opportunities, Binghamton was unable to seize the chance on any of them; the Red Foxes had more success in man-up situations, as they scored two of their 12 goals in man-up opportunities.

The Red Foxes’ defense was pestering and disruptive throughout the match, as Binghamton had 22 turnovers. Marist sophomore long stick midfielder JT Roselle was a key player on the defensive end in the game with four caused turnovers.

Marist, on the other end, only turned over possession 14 times. They had more success settling into its offense and seizing opportunities to score. The Red Foxes’ attack came from all sides, as they often dodged from the wings with Pirreca and their midfielders from up top.

The ground ball fight was fairly even until the second half, where the Red Foxes collected 16 ground balls against Binghamton’s nine.

The Bearcats will look to rebound from their first loss at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, when they take on Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York.