VESTAL, N.Y. – It was a feeling of déjà vu at the Bearcats Sports Complex Saturday, as for the second straight season, Matthew Keegan scored the game-winning goal in overtime to help Binghamton men's lacrosse defeat St. Bonaventure, this time with the score being 13-12.
 
"It was certainly a wild one," said Binghamton Head Coach Kevin McKeown. "We knew it was going to be a battle. They're [St. Bonaventure] a really tough team. They play hard. It was a battle last year, and not a surprise, it was another battle again this year. Proud of the way our guys just kind of stayed the course after halftime."
 
In the inaugural meeting between these two programs at the Division I level nearly a year ago on Feb. 18, 2023, Keegan scored four goals, including the final one with 2:40 remaining in overtime. As for his encore on Saturday, Keegan scored another four goals, with his game-winner in overtime coming with 3:38 remaining in the extra period.
 
"It was just an unbelievable feeling," said Keegan. "Super proud of the guys. We battled back, faced a lot of adversity that game, but it's always super-exciting to scrape a tough one out like that."

Additionally, in his first collegiate start, Dan Garone scored his first four collegiate goals for the Bearcats, including the game-tying goal late in the fourth quarter. Garone transferred to Binghamton and began playing with the Bearcats in 2023 after spending his freshman year at Ohio State, where he did not see any playing time.
 
The Bearcats got out ahead early with two goals in the first four minutes from Declan Ferris and Colin Delay. Down 2-0, St. Bonaventure would fight back with five unanswered goals in the quarter, with three coming from Jake Kucinski and two from Kellen Pulera. Garone then ended the first quarter on a high note for Binghamton by scoring his first goal with seven seconds remaining in the quarter after he picked up a ground ball off a shot by Liam Ferris and fired the rebound into the back of the net.
 
Keegan picked up his first goal of the day with 10:16 remaining in the second quarter to bring the Bearcats within one at 5-4. Kellen Pulera responded with a goal up a man to put the Bonnies back up two. Gage Adams then recorded his second goal of the season to make it 6-5 at 6:52 in the frame. The Bonnies then got back-to-back goals from Patrick Shanahan and Jake Kucinski in the span of 1:47 to give St. Bonaventure its second three-goal lead of the game at 8-5 with 3:10 remaining in the half. Liam Ferris kept the Bearcats in it with his third goal of the season at the 1:46 mark, helping Binghamton enter halftime down 8-6.
 
After Kucinski scored to open the third quarter for St. Bonaventure just 68 seconds into the period, Liam Ferris responded with his second goal to make it 9-7. Both teams would alternate goals throughout the remainder of the quarter, with Grant Giunchi and Kucisnki scoring for the Bonnies and Keegan and Garone scoring for the Bearcats. Garone's goal, which was assisted by Liam Ferris, came with the Bearcats up a man. It was Binghamton's lone goal of the day with the man-advantage, and its second of the season.
 
Down 11-9 heading into the fourth quarter, the Bearcats made their move. Garone secured his first collegiate hat trick after being set up by Adams. Then Keegan secured his hat trick at 8:52 to help Binghamton tie the game for the first time since the first quarter at 11-11. The Bonnies would get its lone goal of the quarter from Pulera at 3:26 to give the Bonnies a 12-11 lead. But Garone tied the game with 2:04 remaining.
 
Both teams had a high-quality chance to win the game in regulation. First, Kucinski nearly recorded his seventh goal of the game with just over two minutes remaining. But Connor Winters made one of his 10 saves for the Bearcats at the biggest moment, drawing a pushing penalty on St. Bonaventure's Kyle Pepper afterwards. With the ball now on the Bearcats' side of the field, Keegan fired off a shot that deflected off of St. Bonaventure goalie Cristofero Cucciuffo's stick and went off the pipe. Winters would make one more save for the Bearcats off of Shanahan with seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
 
After Binghamton gained possession on a face-off violation to open the extra period, Liam Ferris ran up with the ball on the side before centering it to Keegan. The junior then fired in his fourth and final goal of the day to give Binghamton its first win of the season.
 
Other Highlights

• This marks the 10th time in his career that Keegan has scored at least three goals in a game, and the seventh where he has scored at least four. The nine previous instances of at least three goals all came during the 2023 season.
• After tying his career high with 11 face-off victories against Jacksonville on Feb. 10, Ross Chazanow set a new career high by winning 18 out of 27 face-off opportunities against the Bonnies. The senior also collected a team-high five ground balls.
• With two goals and three assists in the game, Liam Ferris holds the early team lead for the Bearcats in points (7) and assists (3).

Up Next
Binghamton returns to the road to take on Lafayette on Saturday, Feb. 24 at noon.