The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team lost five games by one goal in 2015, and lost three of its top scorers in Tucker Nelson, J.T. Hauck and Paul O’Donnell to graduation. Back on the field for 2016, the Bearcats have reloaded with a strong senior defense, ready to finish out the close matchups, with nine freshmen to lead the way.
“We know exactly what we have to do,” senior defender George Deignan said. “Yes, we lost a few of our big scorers, but we have plenty of guys who fill their shoes really well, and we’ve been seeing it in practice and preseason.”
Deignan will return as an anchor to a BU defense that is set to bring back six returners from last year’s squad that held its opponents to fewer than 10 goals on four occasions. In total, this year’s team will feature nine seniors, all looking for a chance to make their second America East (AE) tournament. But while BU’s seasoned defense and midfield look to limit their opponents on the scoreboard, the attack — returning only one starter from 2015 in redshirt sophomore Sean Gilroy — will have some hurdles to jump to get on the board.
“Obviously in the beginning we’re going to rely on our returners quite a bit, and the guys know that,” BU head coach Scott Nelson said. “We’re very big here and we give our seniors a lot of credit … the freshmen, we’ll lay off them a bit, but the seniors [have] got to be seniors.”
For midfielder Zach Scaduto, the title of senior isn’t one that he takes lightly. After tallying 15 points and 12 goals in his 2015 campaign, Scaduto is one of the many BU seniors who will be sought to lead the young Bearcat offense.
“The younger guys look up to us,” Scaduto said. “We stay strong, go out there, lead well, heads up — and the guys are gonna follow suit and work harder and follow in our footsteps.”
Returning alongside Scaduto in the midfield will be sophomore Ben Kocis and junior Tyler Deluca, who combined for 26 goals last season. Junior Dan Mazurek is also set to handle face-offs for the Bearcats in his third season, winning 53.5 percent of his attempts in 2015.
On the schedule for Binghamton this season are four top-25 programs, two of which — Albany and Stony Brook — also call the AE home. The Bearcats are set to start off their campaign against non-conference opponent Colgate on Saturday, and after being picked to finish fifth in this season’s AE preseason poll, the team is also looking to make a statement.
“There’s no team on our schedule that we can’t beat and I truly believe that,” Deignan said. “We’re going to go into every game with the mindset that we’re going to win.”
In 2014, the last time that BU and Colgate squared off, Binghamton fell, 10-9, to the then 19th-ranked Raiders. Part of a 2014 season that had the Bearcats fall four times by two or fewer goals, Binghamton hopes to end its habit of falling in close matchups come conference play.
“We have to win the close games, but I think we can be pretty good,” Nelson said. “It’s a great conference and it’s getting better every year. Schools are putting more and more into it in our conference and people care about it.”
Binghamton is set to face off against Colgate at 1 p.m. on Saturday from Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium in Hamilton, New York.