On Saturday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team traveled to Easton, Pennsylvania, to take on Lafayette, falling short in the contest 19-12. After, the Bearcats found themselves down 6-1 after the first quarter, the Leopards continued their consistent offensive scoring for the rest of the match as BU was unable to recover from the early deficit.

“Maybe we could have switched to zone a little bit earlier,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We did that in the second half — we had a couple of failed clears in there that led to a goal or two [and] a couple of penalties that led to a goal or two. I don’t know if it was any one specific thing. We made some mistakes, and we didn’t get a break from playing defense just because they were scoring and winning some face-offs as well.”

Lafayette (3-1) started the match off with an extra-man opportunity in the first minute of play. The Leopards converted during their first man-up opportunity and scored again less than a minute later, taking a 2-0 lead. The Bearcats (1-2) got on the scoreboard just over the 10-minute mark, thanks to a goal from junior attack Matthew Keegan. Binghamton and Lafayette traded shots for the next three minutes until Lafayette scored its third goal of the game and then embarked on a 4-0 run to end the quarter with a 6-1 lead.

“I think it’s more the fact of just getting them the ball,” McKeown said. “Maybe we weren’t getting stops defensively. We didn’t win a few face-offs, and we didn’t have the possession that we needed.”

The second quarter began with more of the same for the Bearcats. Lafayette got on the board first with two back-to-back goals in the first three minutes to go up 8-1. Senior attack Liam Ferris opened the scoring for Binghamton with a goal assisted by Keegan to cut the deficit to six goals. The rest of the quarter saw both teams trade goals, with Ferris netting his second goal of the game and junior attack Gage Adams landing his first of the game. Junior attack Dan Garone netted his lone goal in the game with two seconds to go in the half to cut the Lafayette lead to 12-5 heading into halftime.

“I thought we settled for a few low-angle opportunities earlier in the game that weren’t great shot opportunities,” McKeown said. “I think shot selection is something that we talk about and work on.”

The second half opened with stronger defensive performances from both teams, with no goals scored in roughly the first five minutes of play. Lafayette broke the stalemate, bringing the score to 13-5 in their favor, before Ferris scored his third goal of the game, completing the hat trick. Sophomore attack Colin DeLay scored his first goal of the game soon after, cutting the Leopard’s lead to six. Lafayette responded with two straight goals to end the quarter, entering the fourth quarter with a 15-7 lead.

“I thought our offense actually played pretty well,” McKeown said. “I think we had better ball movement, especially in the second half when we were dodging really well. I just think we didn’t get enough stops defensively, [and] we failed too many clears.”

The fourth quarter opened with Lafayette scoring the first goal of the quarter just over a minute in. Binghamton, however, fought back early on with three straight goals from three different Bearcats. Graduate student midfielder Sonny Imburgia scored his sole goal of the match and sophomore midfielder Will Feldmann scored his first goal of the season. DeLay also added his second goal of the game. The rest of the period consisted of both teams trading goals, with Adams and Keegan each scoring their second goals of the match. However, this was not enough as the Leopards came out on top 19-12.

“I thought our offense played well, and I think our riding game was positive,” McKeown said. “I thought we competed there and stopped them on some clearing opportunities. We did some good things there, [and] I think that’s something we’re going to continue to build on and something that can continue to be a part of our game.”

Ferris, Adams, DeLay and Keegan all scored multiple goals in the losing effort. In addition, Ferris scored his first collegiate hat trick.

Binghamton will continue its four-game road stretch, taking on Richmond on Saturday, March 2. First face-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.