The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team’s season came to an end in the America East semifinals with a 10-9 overtime loss to No. 1 Bryant. The Bearcats trailed the Bulldogs until late in the fourth quarter, when Binghamton grabbed a 9-8 lead. Bryant, however, found the tying score to force an overtime period, where it scored first and sent the Bearcats home.

“Obviously, I was proud of the way we fought and thought we showed a lot of heart,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “In the end, just ended up one short on the scoreboard.”

“We were able to get the lead with six minutes left, but unfortunately, couldn’t hold on to it and couldn’t get the ball in overtime and credit to them, they scored a good goal there,” he continued.

The Bulldogs (10-5, 5-1 AE) were first to find net, going up 1-0 early in the first quarter. Bryant soon found another score, building its lead to 2-0. Binghamton (5-9, 3-3 AE) continued to search for its opening score, rattling off three consecutive shot attempts, but it was Bryant who found net yet again.

BU opened its scorebook after winning the ensuing face-off, and graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris found twine.

“We talk about it a lot in terms of just trying to be resilient and respond to adversity,” McKeown said. “Lacrosse is a game of runs, so we knew at some point they were going to have some momentum and go on a run, and I guess unfortunately it was to start the game, so we were kind of playing from behind a little bit.”

In the second quarter, the Bearcats got on the board first when Ferris found sophomore long stick midfielder Nolan Sharkey, who buried it in the back of the net to make it a 3-2 game. Bryant would control possession while scoring consecutive goals to take a 5-2 lead. Senior attack Dan Garone responded with a score for the Bearcats, but another pair of scores from the Bulldogs saw Binghamton trail 7-3. However, a score from sophomore midfielder Riley Jenkins as time expired saw the Bearcats enter the half trailing by three.

“I thought we battled the face-off,” McKeown said. “I think the stats maybe didn’t quite show. I mean, we won a few right back after they had won it. So I thought we really scrapped for some possessions there and that was a focus going in.”

The third quarter opened with a nearly seven-and-a-half-minute scoring drought that junior midfielder Colin Delay ended when he found twine at 7:28. A retaliatory score from Bryant made it a 5-8 game, but Delay found twine once again. With 1:01 remaining in the third quarter, Ferris lit up the scoreboard as the Bearcats entered the final period of play down by one.

“I thought the defense played well,” McKeown said. “To hold a team like that to nine in four quarters, 10 with overtime. They’re a good offense.”

“So I was proud of the way our defense played, them combined with [senior goalie Connor Winters],” he continued.

Bryant opened the fourth quarter with six consecutive shots, but was unable to find a score. After three unsuccessful shot attempts, Delay found twine, securing a hat-trick and notching the score at 8-8.

Soon after, a Bulldogs score was overturned and senior attack Gage Adams found net to give the Bearcats their first lead of the day. Bryant finally got one past Winters at the 4:14 mark and both squads were held scoreless through the rest of play, forcing a golden-goal overtime period. After winning the opening face-off, Bryant found twine, as BU fell 10-9.

“I thought our seniors did a great job leading this team all year,” McKeown said. “I told the guys that after the game, I thought they really believed and they were really building over their four years here.”

The loss brings Binghamton’s 2025 campaign to an end, as they fell short of qualifying for the AE Finals. However, several Bearcats found success this year. Delay and Sharkey were named to the AE All-Tournament Team for their performances in the semifinal matchup. Ferris, sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo and senior defender Lorenzo Ramos all earned first team All-Conference honors.