In the midst of a grueling road stretch filled with losses, the men’s lacrosse team finally ended its skid. The Bearcats shattered a four-game losing streak with blazing offense and a slew of record-setting performances in their highest-scoring game since 2006.
The Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team (2-4) overpowered the Marist Red Foxes (3-1) in a 15-9 victory this past Saturday at Tenney Stadium, picking up its first win since the season opener. With pressure to avoid a repeat of last season’s record mounting after every loss, the Bearcats played with renewed efficiency. Binghamton head coach Ed Stephenson attributes the team’s strong offensive performance to its patience, something that was lacking in its previous games.
“It’s really easy to defend a team that’s impatient,” Stephenson said. “We were more patient with the ball. The other guys on offense need to understand that if you’re patient with the ball you actually have more shots, instead of forcing the ball.”
The Bearcats controlled the game from the first quarter, netting six goals in their most productive period. Senior attack Jeff Rurey scored three times, giving Binghamton an early lead. Stephenson points out the first quarter as the Bearcats’ best display of skill.
“We controlled the ball on the offense, we reduced our turnovers early on and we had some nice, long possessions and came out with some goals,” he said.
Binghamton offense slowed down in the second quarter as Marist pulled within three goals at halftime, with the score at 8-5. Its goal in the middle of the second quarter was the closest Marist would get to tying the score, as the Bearcats regained their momentum by scoring seven consecutive goals after halftime and shutting out the Red Foxes in the third quarter.
By the time the Bearcats finished their second-half scoring spree, they commanded a 10-goal lead over Marist. With five minutes left in regulation, the Red Foxes had a late charge, scoring four straight goals to end the game, setting the final score of 15-9.
“We held them to 15-5 with five minutes left, we did a good job, but I wish we could have finished stronger,” Stephenson said. “The difference was that we controlled face-offs, and we had good solid possessions that put some pressure on them.”
Binghamton outshot Marist 40-19, and took 33 ground balls to the Red Foxes’ 17.
The long-awaited Bearcats victory was topped off with several new records. For the first time in school history, three players produced hat tricks in the same game. The offensive trio was Rurey, freshman attack Matt Springer and senior midfielder Steve Carlson. Springer was named America East Rookie of the Week for the second straight time for his efforts.
Sophomore face-off specialist Jeff Donigan contributed to the fray with two marks of his own, winning a record 24 out of 27 faceoffs while setting a new program-high win percentage of .889.
The win against Marist puts Binghamton’s record at 2-4. The Bearcats will play the last game of their road trip at Hobart College (1-2) in hopes of continuing their momentum heading into conference play. Looking ahead, Stephenson expects his team to work even harder and capitalize on scoring opportunities.
“Hobart is a tough team with good offense and a good goalie. We have to play a 60-minute game this time; two-thirds is not enough to win this game.”
The Bearcats are set to play the Statesmen at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at McCooey Field.