It has been a season rife with frustration for the Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team. But with three weak teams at the bottom of the America East the Bearcats (3-7, 1-3 AE) still have control of their playoff destiny with one game remaining in the regular season.
If Binghamton wins Saturday at Hartford (0-12, 0-4), the Bearcats will return to the four-team AE Championship Tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
Hartford, winless on the season, still has an opportunity to make it to the playoffs. Accordingly, the Bearcats aren’t taking the Hawks lightly.
“We’re not confident based on the fact that they’re winless,” said senior goalie Larry Kline. “Our confidence stems from the fact that it’s do or die for us.”
Hartford’s strength is its midfield. Middies Brian Tilley and Justin Bearse lead the Hawk attack with 14 and 13 goals, respectively. Canadian-born Michael Cudmore plays the role of distributor, leading the team with 12 assists on the season.
“Their Canadian players are nifty with the ball,” Kline said. “They have very good stick skills and they moved the ball real quick.”
Binghamton is coming off a tough overtime 7-6 loss to SUNY rival Stony Brook on Saturday. In the televised game, Stony Brook scored the sudden-death goal just 15 seconds into the overtime period.
The Bearcats are tied for fourth place in the league standings with Vermont, but own the tiebreaker should both teams win on Saturday. UVM will play AE regular season champion Maryland-Baltimore County this weekend. If Binghamton loses and Vermont wins, the Catamounts will make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2003 — the last year Binghamton missed the postseason. Vermont has finished fifth for four consecutive seasons.
If, however, Binghamton and Vermont both lose on Saturday, then both teams would enter a three-way tie for fourth place along with Hartford. In that scenario, none of the three teams would own a tiebreaker and the team with the best goal differential will finish fourth.
“We’re looking at it as: we win, we’re in, we lose, we’re out,” Kline said. “I’m not paying attention to what the other teams are doing. Luckily we have the opportunity to have our destiny in our hands.”
The teams will face off at 1 p.m. in Hartford.