POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.- In the season opener Binghamton men's lacrosse (1-0) defeats Marist (0-2), 18-11. The Bearcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter as four different players found the back of the net. BU used a 6-3 third quarter to extend the lead to 13-8 going into the fourth period.

Sophomores Gage Adams and Matthew Keegan finished the contest with 5 goals each, marking a career high for both. Adams got the scoring started with the first goal of the contest, then scored later in the second period right in front of the net off of a pass from junior Ethan Insinga. Adams scored two goals in the third period and the fifth goal off of a Keegan assist in the fourth. 

Keegan started his scoring halfway through the first period with a laser to push the lead to 4-0. To start the second half, Keegan scored his second goal of the game when junior Ross Chazanow won the faceoff, and picked up two more goals in the third period. With just over four minutes left in the contest Keegan secured his fifth goal of the game to push the BU lead to 18-11. 

"I thought our entire attack unit played great," Head Coach Kevin McKeown said. "Insinga, Adams, and Keegan kept the ball moving and did a great job finishing our opportunities."

Redshirt junior Thomas Greenblatt led all Bearcats with four assists and found the back of the net in the fourth period. Greenblatt finished with a career high five points in the afternoon. Senior Nicholas Imburgia finished the game with two goals and two assists, marking a collegiate career high on the day. Senior Patrick Murad, scored his first collegiate goal in the second period off of a Marist turnover and had a clear lane to the net. 

Defensively, the Bearcats forced 11 turnovers. Seniors Max Napoli, Declan Ferris, and sophomore Lorenzo Ramos all had two caused turnovers with five other Bearcats adding a caused turnover. In his first career collegiate start sophomore goalie Connor Winters saved 14 shots with a .560 save percentage.

"I thought Connor did a great job seeing the ball," McKeown said. "Our defense gave him shots that he wanted to see and he made a few big saves."

The 1-2 punch of senior Matthew DeSouza and junior Ross Chazanow at the faceoff position allowed Binghamton to win 21 of 33 faceoffs and the duo combined for 15 groundballs on the day. 

BU will be back on the road next Saturday, Feb. 18 to take on St. Bonaventure at 1 p.m.