After narrowly missing the America East playoffs in 2024, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team will lean on key returners and the experience of ninth-year head coach Kevin McKeown as the Bearcats look to make a return to the AE playoffs.
The Bearcats had an up-and-down 2024 campaign, going 6-7 on the year with a 4-3 record in AE play. BU started its shaky season with a 2-5 record, while losing its opening conference match to Merrimack 10-9 in overtime. Despite the slow start, the Bearcats squad clicked into gear, moving to 2-1 in AE play with key wins over NJIT and UMass Lowell. BU continued its hot streak with an 11-10 overtime win over eventual AE runner-ups Vermont, and a 21-10 victory over UMBC in which the Bearcats tied the program record for goals in a game.
Heading into its final two games of the season, BU was tied for first place in the AE with a 4-1 conference play record, but a 17-11 loss against Bryant in its penultimate game sent BU into a win or go home regular season finale at AE leaders Albany.
Despite taking an early 3-1 lead in the match, the foes went into the second quarter of play with a 4-4 draw, and the Great Danes proceeded to outscore the Bearcats 6-3. With BU facing a 10-7 deficit in the second half, frustration mounted as Albany outscored BU 8-3 in the second half, ending Binghamton’s 2024 season. Despite finishing with a 4-3 record and holding a tie for the third spot in the AE, the Bearcats were eliminated by tiebreaker, as Merrimack and UMBC advanced to the AE playoffs ahead of BU.
After losing key starters like midfielder Sonny Imburgia, attacker Ethan Insinga and, most notably, attack Matthew Keegan, BU will look to its trio of AE preseason first-team members to find success in 2025. Leading the way for BU is senior goalkeeper Connor Winters, who was first named to the AE first-team in 2023 before finishing second in the AE in saves per game in 2024. Rounding out the AE preseason first-team selections for BU are graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris and senior defense Lorenzo Ramos, both of whom were named to the AE second-team in 2024.
Binghamton will also hope to see significant production from its other two all-conference honorees, AE all-rookie team sophomores attack Andrew Girolamo and midfield Jack Mellen, as well as a pool of 10 incoming freshmen and sophomore transfer Riley Jenkins.
Binghamton will host Lafayette to begin its 2025 season on Saturday, Feb. 8. Faceoff is set for noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.