Following a 14-6 rout of UMass Lowell on April 4, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team returned to its home field on April 11 to face No. 8 Albany. Despite a strong showing on both sides of the field from BU (3-7, 2-2 AE), the Great Danes (9-2, 5-0 AE) proved their worth as the top dogs of the conference, downing the Bearcats, 15-11.
Carrying an average of 17.9 goals per game, the high-tempo UAlbany offense is a far cry from the methodical, pass-heavy attack that BU employs. Finding the back of the net on their first possession of the game, it looked as if Albany’s quick-strike attack were ready to let loose against a BU squad it piled 21 goals on in 2014.
Returning fire for BU, senior midfielder Emmett O’Hara tied the contest, 1-1, for Binghamton early in the first. Following a botched face-off by the Great Danes, a save by sophomore goalie Tanner Cosens and a turnover by Albany’s reigning Tewaaraton winner in senior attack Lyle Thompson, the game was looking up for the Bearcats. After a quick goal by UAlbany, freshman midfielder Ben Kocis scored on a feed from senior midfielder JT Hauck to make the Bearcats one-for-one on man-up chances and tie the score at two.
And that’s when the Great Danes broke off the chain.
“Our defense just played pretty well,” BU head coach Scott Nelson said. “I thought a lot of times we left the ball on the ground and [Albany] came in and converted those opportunities, and that really hurt us.”
Albany dominated the possession game for the remainder of the quarter, outshooting BU, 8-1. The Great Danes then scored three more goals to head into the second with a 5-2 lead.
Eighteen seconds into the period, Great Danes senior midfielder Tim Cox added to Albany’s lead to push the margin, 6-2. On the losing end of a 4-0 run, the Binghamton defense went to work on Albany, forcing four turnovers in just under 10 minutes of play. Perhaps the biggest roars of the night came on a pair of turnovers caused by junior defender George Deignan and sophomore defender Garrett Waldron, as the two succeeded in forcing Thompson not only to turn over the ball, but to lose his stick in the process.
That momentum propelled BU to get back on the board, courtesy of another Kocis goal. After a third goal from the freshman and another by sophomore midfielder Tyler Deluca, Binghamton entered the half trailing just 6-5.
“The last few games, [Kocis has] really picked it up,” Nelson said. “He’s maturing and we think he’s going to be one heck of a player.”
Binghamton kept the pressure on in the third, tying the game at seven after goals from Kocis and junior midfielder Johnny Maher. But the Great Danes put back four of their own before senior attack Paul O’Donnell made the mark 11-8 in Albany’s favor at the end of the third.
Opening the final 15 with strong defense from both sides, O’Donnell scored another for BU, evening the score at 11-9 with over nine minutes to play. Winning the ensuing face-off, Kocis attempted his fifth goal of the day, only to have it saved and turned into an Albany goal. After similar saved attempts by O’Donnell and O’Hara were converted as Albany goals, BU trailed, 13-9, plagued by what Nelson deemed, “turnover shots.”
“We made too many mistakes to win,” Nelson said. “We played pretty well and we thought we had a pretty good game plan, the guys executed well, but in addition to not getting the ball in the half-field, we made a lot of mistakes … Mistakes killed us tonight. Otherwise it was a very even game.”
Hauck and junior attack Zach Scaduto each scored to try for a late comeback, but it was to no avail, as BU fell, 15-11.
Binghamton is set to face Canisius in a non-conference contest on Tuesday. First face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Demske Sports Complex in Buffalo, New York.