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As the sun set over the Bearcats Sports Complex on a crystal clear Saturday evening, so did the chances of the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team winning its first conference matchup of the season, as they fell to the No. 20 Albany Great Danes by a score of 9-7.

With the loss, the Bearcats fell to 1-7 on the season.

Senior midfielder Jonny Baron and sophomore attack Brian Donahue scored two goals apiece for the Bearcats. Donahue also added an assist. Junior Andy Cook scored a goal and added two assists, while senior midfielder Duncan Streeten had a goal and an assist. Senior goaltender Larry Kline made 10 saves.

For the Great Danes, junior attack Kyle Brunk had two goals while freshman midfielder Joe Resetarits added two goals and an assist.

In a game that was statistically close in nearly every category, the Bearcats outshot the Great Danes by a 43-33 margin.

Facing the No. 20 team in the country, the Bearcats kept it close for the duration of the contest.

Albany scored 14 seconds into the game and then built a 2-0 lead within the first two minutes. Kline then forced a turnover in the defensive end that led to Cook’s goal, cutting the lead to 2-1. Albany quickly struck back, scoring another goal to make it 3-1.

The Bearcats stormed back to score three unanswered goals to take their only lead of the night at 4-3. Albany notched two consecutive goals, and then Binghamton tied it at 5-5 and again at 6-6, before Albany scored two goals in a 42-second span to make it 8-6, a score that held for 19 minutes. Then with just 3:40 left to play, Resetarits notched his second goal to make it 9-6. Streeten later scored with just over a minute left to make it the final score of 9-7.

“They came in here and stole one,” said Binghamton head coach Ed Stephenson. “We’re supposed to protect our home turf, and they stole one. We took good percentage shots and even outshot them, but we have to finish. We didn’t take advantage of all our opportunities. It was our game to lose.”

Both teams appeared to be extremely energized from the very beginning of the game.

“It’s a whole new season,” Cook said of the conference matchups. “We’re 0-1 from a legitimate perspective right now. We need to improve on this game. We can’t start games slowly.”

“We need to go up fast on tough teams,” Kline agreed. “I give a lot of props to our coach for scheduling those tough games in the first place because they help us prepare for the conference matchups.”

Albany was the fifth nationally ranked opponent on the Bearcats’ schedule this season, and three more ranked teams are left.

For the seniors on the team, there are only a handful of games left before collegiate lacrosse comes to a permanent end.

“It comes from inside, no matter how cheesy it sounds,” Kline said of the feeling of urgency for the seniors. “My lacrosse career is dwindling game by game; the end is near. We need to play as a team and play smart in the future.”

The next matchup for the Bearcats is No. 8 UMBC, another conference foe.

“They are a legitimate top-10 team,” Stephenson said. “They have weapons at every position, and they have very strong goaltending. We have a huge task in front of us. We gave one up at home, so we need to steal one on the road.”

The conference play continues against Vermont on April 11. “Everything is on the line in conference play,” Stephenson said. “We’ve got a chance to go to the NCAA tournament. The opportunity is right here in front of us.”

Binghamton is 0-1 in conference play while Albany, UMBC, and Vermont are 1-0. Stony Brook and Hartford are also at 0-1. Each team will have played five conference games before April 29, when the America East semifinals are scheduled to take place.

Binghamton will play three games over spring break. The Bearcats’ game against No. 8 UMBC is Saturday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. Binghamton will then play a non-conference game at No. 17 Colgate on April 14 before facing Vermont at home on April 11.