In overtime of a close defensive struggle with UMBC, the clock was nearing zero and the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team had possession of the ball. Junior attack Daniel MacKinney took the ball and fired a shot that just beat the buzzer. With under a second remaining on the clock, the Bearcats scored and defeated the Retrievers 8-7.

“We were trying to hold it between 10 or 12 seconds before we really started going,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “The guys just did a great job of moving the ball around on the perimeter against [UMBC’s] zone. [MacKinney] did a great job getting a great bounce shot off that hit the top corner.”

The story of the game for Binghamton was the performance of redshirt sophomore goalie Teddy Dolan. He recorded 18 saves and continually bailed out the Bearcats throughout the day.

“For the first couple of games it has been little bit of a slower start for [Dolan],” McKeown said. “He came off injury in the fall. Certainly today he did an unbelievable job. We know what he’s capable of and I think everyone saw it today.”

Neither team had a particularly strong outing on offense, but UMBC had nearly double the number of shots and shots on goal as Binghamton. The difference in the game appeared to be Dolan.

“We fought hard,” McKeown said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game, I don’t think it was our best game, but the guys kept scrapping … I don’t think we cleared the ball incredibly well, we gave them second chances and [Dolan] racked up saves in that regard. I’m super proud of the guys, after a tough game over the weekend they were able to bounce back.”

Binghamton led 3-2 at halftime and headed to the fourth quarter with a 7-6 lead. UMBC held the Bearcats scoreless in the final frame, scoring the lone goal three minutes into the quarter. In overtime, there was just one shot on goal by either team, and it was MacKinney’s game winner.

The Bearcats entered the game shorthanded, as five Bearcats were suspended for one game by the AE after an altercation with Albany in Saturday’s game. Both teams were issued a reprimand for their conduct after a fourth quarter fight involving several players on the sideline.

“I wasn’t surprised about anything on that — I think our guys did a great job of just rallying,” McKeown said. “We wanted to use that as a learning experience, and we think it can a turning point in our season to do some things better. We did that today, and we’ll be looking forward to getting our full team back this weekend.”

Next up for Binghamton is a rematch against UMBC, with the Bearcats headed on the road for a game on Saturday.

“[UMBC is] the reigning conference champs from 2019, so it was great to be able to get a victory against those guys,” McKeown said. “It’ll be a quick turnaround to head back down there to Baltimore this weekend.”

Faceoff is set for noon on Saturday at UMBC Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.