Sasa Sucic/Staff Photographer
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With the season drawing to a close, the Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team kept pace with the best team in the conference last Saturday night, but could not survive in the final minutes.

It was a back-and-forth offensive barrage against 17th-ranked Stony Brook University that ended with the Seawolves winning 17-16 after the Bearcats blew another lead late in the game.

The Bearcats fell after having the lead at four separate times, and at certain points looking poised to win the game. This was the fifth game this season for Binghamton in which the final score was decided by a single goal.

This match was different, however, in one way — it was the highest-scoring game in the three-year history of the Bearcats Sports Complex.

Offense was the key word during this contest as Binghamton took an early lead, shooting past the Seawolves in the first 10 minutes of play and netting six straight goals to go ahead 6-1 with just 4:58 left to play in the first quarter. The Seawolves, however, fought back and brought the game back into reach in the last five minutes of the quarter, making it 6-5.

The back-and-forth battle continued when Binghamton took a quick lead again at the beginning of the second quarter, but Stony Brook again answered back to take the lead. With SBU 9-8 with less than five minutes to go before the half, freshman phenom Matt Springer put in the tying goal at the end of the half.

The teams matched each other in third-quarter production to bring the score to a 13-13 tie going into the final quarter. The Bearcats again took a fast lead in the fourth, scoring two goals in less than two minutes before the Seawolves answered back again. Binghamton held a 16-14 lead with 6:31 remaining, but Stony Brook tallied two quick goals to tie the score at 16 apiece. With less than three minutes to go and the game tied up, Stony Brook’s Jordan McBride scored his seventh and final goal to win it by one for the Seawolves.

The Bearcats put forth a total team effort in the loss as five players had multiple goals. Senior Andy Cook had a career-high six goals and four assists, setting the school record for points in a game with 10. The previous record had been set by senior attack Jeff Rurey on March 30. Rurey scored twice in the contest. Junior midfielder Frank Donlon added three goals and Springer tallied two goals and three assists. The Bearcats outshot the Seawolves 44-30 and recorded half as many turnovers as their opponents.

The Bearcats currently share their overall record with three other teams and their conference record with one team, so there is still a chance that they could move on to the America East semifinals. Binghamton’s next matchup against Hartford will prove to be an extremely important one, as a loss will likely end its playoff hopes.

Face-off at Hartford is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.