Despite a feverish second-half comeback, the Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team couldn’t muster up enough offense to seal the deal this weekend.
The Bearcats (5-6, 1-1 America East) lost their shot at their first 2-0 conference start since 2007 after falling to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County by a score of 8-6.
Binghamton dug itself a deep hole in the second quarter, allowing six consecutive UMBC goals in a seven-minute span to give the Retrievers a big 7-2 lead.
“We gave up some transition opportunities,” said interim head coach Kevin McKeown. “Also, I think we were a little slow recovering on defense when we had to slide to their dodgers. We were just a little bit of a step behind.”
But then the Bearcats turned up the heat, starting with a goal from freshman Brandon Planck. McKeown appreciated the importance of the goal.
“I think we just took a couple deep breaths,” he said of the Bearcats’ surge. “Brandon Planck did a nice job of running around and beating his guy to score, and that kind of put a little bit of juice back into the guys. Unfortunately we just weren’t able to land enough shots, especially in the second half.”
The Bearcats reeled off three straight goals to bring the score within two, including another goal from Planck and one from sophomore Tyler Perrelle. But the offense was anemic on both sides for the remainder of the match. Each team scored one goal in the fourth quarter, bringing the total goals scored for the entire second half to just three after 11 goals were tallied in the first half.
Binghamton outshot the Retrievers 33-26, but struggled to find the back of the net. McKeown said getting opportunities wasn’t the problem.
“We did get a good amount of quality looks,” he said. “We just didn’t do a great job of finishing them and shooting on their goalie. But give their goalie credit, he did play a nice game, saved the ones he had to save to get the win.”
Also tallying goals for the Bearcats were sophomore Matt Springer and senior David Raleigh, who scored a pair. Sophomore goalie Kraig Heston made six saves.
After a 4-3 start to the season, the Bearcats have lost three of their last four contests, a slump that coincided with the surprise resignation of longtime Bearcats head coach Ed Stephenson, the only coach the team had ever had at the Division I level. McKeown knows how tough the changes have been.
“There definitely has been a little bit of a transition,” McKeown said. “I think we’ve hit that and kind of gone through it. At this point, it’s been long enough, and I know the coaching staff and the guys have kept their heads looking forward. Right now, we’re just taking it one day at a time in practice and certainly one game at a time in the conference season.”
Despite the off-the-field issues and recent slump, the Bearcats hold the best record that they have had at this point in a season since 2006, highlighted by the rise of Springer as a significant offensive threat and Heston’s consistent play between the pipes. But McKeown feels that there is still work to be done.
“I think as a whole we’re getting where we need to be,” he said. “We’re not quite there yet. We’ve had too many mental lapses. I think we certainly, with two conference games under our belt, still have destiny in our hands and still control our fate as conference playoffs go.”
The next hurdle for the Bearcats is Stony Brook University, who currently sits in first place in the America East Conference. It is the only unbeaten squad left in the conference through two games, but the America East is up for grabs as no team has yet established itself as a dominating force early in conference play.
“Obviously with conference season only being five games, each one is very important,” McKeown said. “Stony Brook is the team right now that is in first place; they’re the only ones without a loss in conference. A victory over those guys would be huge, it would put us into at least a tie for first place. Obviously it’s a very big game, and to be able to get that second win in conference would be huge.”
Last year, the Bearcats dropped a heartbreaker at home to the Seawolves in the highest-scoring contest in the history of the Bearcats Sports Complex. The nationally-ranked No. 17 Seawolves beat Binghamton by a 17-16 score, dealing a crushing blow to the Bearcats’ playoff hopes. The 2010 season marked the end of Binghamton’s streak of six consecutive postseason appearances.
“As a coaching staff, we’re still working on film on those guys,” McKeown said of his preparation for the Seawolves. “I’m sure we’ll have a few wrinkles to put in to adjust our game plan, but for the most part, we’re perfecting our stuff and what we do best.”
The Bearcats are set to take on Stony Brook at 7 p.m. on Saturday on the road.