BURLINGTON, Vt.- Binghamton men's lacrosse fell, 17-9, at Vermont Saturday night.
Johnny Maher recorded a hat trick in the America East regular season finale at Virtue Field.
Needing to win by at least five goals to qualify for the postseason, BU got out to a terrific start. It grabbed a 5-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Joe Licata started the scoring for the Bearcats with 10:39 left in the opening frame.
Thomas McAndrew followed with a goal at the 8:35 mark.
Sean Gilroy assisted on a
Matthew Kaser score with 4:27 showing on the clock, giving Binghamton a 3-0 advantage. Less than a minute later,
Eric Schweitzer put in a rebound goal to stretch the margin to four. Early in the second period,
Johnny Maher made a move behind the net and wrapped around for a score and a 5-0 difference.
Vermont answered with four straight goals to get back into the contest, but the Bearcats rallied again late in the half. With 4:03 to play, Maher found the back of the net out of a transition situation, putting BU back ahead, 6-4. Binghamton won the ensuing faceoff and Schweitzer moved through the Catamount defense and set up
Austin Macchi's first goal of the season, as the visitors took a 7-4 lead with 3:49 left in the half. The Catamounts scored one more goal late in the quarter, but BU entered the break with a 7-5 advantage. The hosts controlled the second half and won on its senior night.
Maher led with three goals, tallying his second hat trick of the year. Licata and Schweitzer each put up a goal and an assist. Schweitzer also picked up six groundballs.
Tanner Cosens made 11 saves in net. Binghamton converted 17-18 clear attempts in the match.
BU finished 2016 with a 4-10 record, including a 2-4 conference mark. Coach
Scott Nelson's squad will lose a strong group of seniors featuring Maher,
Chris Bechle,
Ken Burkus,
George Deignan,
T.J. DiSanto,
Sean Finnigan,
Eric Fischer,
Mitchell Rick, and
Zach Scaduto.
Vermont clinched a playoff bid earlier Saturday and will face Stony Brook in the America East Championship semifinals next week. Top-seeded Albany will host the tournament and play Hartford in the other semifinal.
