VESTAL, N.Y.- Binghamton men's lacrosse (9-4, 5-2 AE) locked down a share of second place with the 15-14 win over Albany (5-9, 4-3 AE) and will have the three seed in the America East Tournament. The back and forth contest featured ten goals scored in the first period between the two teams. BU led 6-4 after the first quarter, thanks in part to sophomores Gage Adams and Matthew Keegan who accounted for four of the six goals. Adams would finish the day with five goals, his fourth game this season with five or more goals. Keegan would finish with three goals and add one assist. Sophomore long stick midfielder Paolo Capucciati, would find the back of the net as the first quarter came to a close for his first career goal.
After going up 6-4 in the first period, redshirt junior Thomas Greenblatt got on the board to begin the second quarter scoring. After Albany responded with a goal of their own, Adams would score the next two BU goals to push the lead to 9-5. With around eight minutes left in the second quarter, Albany made a goalie change bringing in Tommy Heller for the remainder of the game. The Great Danes would score the next two goals to cut the Bearcats lead to two going into the half.
To begin the third quarter Albany would score two more goals to tie the game before senior Patrick Murad found the back of the net to put a halt to the run. After Albany responded to tie the game again, Greenblatt and junior Ethan Insinga would score BU's next two goals. With 5:51 left in the third period Insinga would get a pass from Greenblatt and score a no-look goal with his back to the goalie. Insinga would close out the third period shortly after with his second goal of the game to put the Bearcats up 13-11.
Keegan and Adams would score the opening two goals in the fourth period to put BU up 15-11. Albany wouldn't back down, scoring three straight goals to make it 15-14. Redshirt freshman goalie Connor Winters came up with big saves late in the contest to secure the win for Binghamton. Winters would finish with 15 saves on the day and a .517 saves percentage.
Senior Matthew DeSouza was strong at the x, winning 15-25 faceoffs and securing eight groundballs.
BU will travel to host Vermont in a rematch against the No. 2 seed Bryant in the America East Semifinals on Thursday, May 4. Bryant defeated the Bearcats 14-10 on April 22, in part to a seven goal run over the second and third quarters to jump out to a 12-4 lead. This will be just the second matchup between the programs.
