SPARKS GLENCOE, Md. – In a back-and-forth battle, the Binghamton men's lacrosse team (0-1) came up just short in its season opener Saturday, losing 9-8 to Jacksonville (1-0) at Tierney Field.
In the back-and-forth contest, the first ever between these two teams, the Dolphins prevailed thanks in part to two goals scored up a man. Jack Taylor and Ethan Lamond each scored two goals for Jacksonville.
"I'm proud of the way our team fought today," said Binghamton Head Coach
Kevin McKeown. "Connor [Winters] played very well in goal, and I thought Ross [Chazanow] did a great job of getting us the ball at the faceoff X. We just came up a couple of plays short in the end and couldn't get over the hump in the second half to take the lead. We'll learn from it and look to improve for next week at home."
Playing in his first game for Binghamton since transferring from Syracuse, Ferris made an immediate impact by scoring his first goal 35 seconds into the game after running into the attack area and firing the ball into the net. Just over five minutes later, Jacksonville responded with goals by Taylor and Lamond to take the 2-1 lead. Towards the end of the quarter, the Bearcats tied it up off a goal by
Sonny Imburgia.
Jacksonville's first goal up a man came with 12:53 remaining in the second quarter, when Taylor got the ball to Daniel May before he fired the ball into the back of the net. The Bearcats came roaring back after that. First,
Matthew Keegan picked up right where he left off from last season by recording his first goal of the season at 10:32. After both teams went several minutes without finding the back of the net, Imburgia set up Ferris for his second goal. The Bearcats went into the locker room at halftime trailing 5-4.
Both defenses would lock down the opposition in the third quarter, the lowest scoring one of the game. The only goal in the frame came form the Bearcats in a thrilling sequence. After
Aaron Tebo forced a turnover in the defensive end of the field,
Christian Hanko scooped up the ground ball. The ball eventually made its way to
Ethan Insinga, who sprinted up the field. The midfielder then sent the ball to
Trey Sofield, who immediately shot the ball into the net for his first goal since March 29, 2022. On the other end of the field, Winters made two of his 13 saves in the quarter, and both teams would take a 5-5 game into the fourth.
Taylor and Edmond put the Dolphins back ahead with two goals 14 seconds apart to open the fourth quarter. Down 7-5, the Bearcats got their break after Marshall McGuire was called for holding. Just 18 seconds into the 30-second penalty, Insinga set up
Gage Adams for Binghamton's first goal up a man this season. Breyden Harrison got the goal back for Jacksonville 12 seconds later to extend the Dolphins' lead to 8-6. Down two with just over six minutes remaining, the Bearcats kept fighting. Colin Delay scored his first goal of the season at 6:09 to bring the game back to 8-7. Jacksonville then responded with their second goal up a man in the game, courtesy of Nicky Brown at 2:04.
The Bearcats attempted one more comeback at the end. Down a man, Chazanow won a crucial face-off after Brown's goal. After he picked up the ground ball, Chazanow found Tebo near the side of the net, where he scored to bring the game back within one. The Bearcats would get the ball for the final 34 seconds after Jacksonville's Chris Darmino was called for a holding penalty. But with time winding down, a pass intended for Keegan just missed him, and the clock ran out, ending Binghamton's season opener.
The Bearcats return to campus for their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 17 against in-state rival St. Bonaventure. The game starts at noon.
