VESTAL, N.Y. – Nearly two years to the day since former goalie Robert Martin passed away, the Binghamton men's lacrosse team honored his legacy with a 15-6 win against UMass Lowell Saturday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
 
As part of their Mental Health Awareness Game, the Bearcats raised awareness about the importance of mental health. The team also partnered with Goalies Matter, a mental health support group that promotes mental health education and team training for all sports.
 
"What we always say to the guys is we want to play the way that Rob would want us to," said Binghamton Head Coach Kevin McKeown about Martin, who passed away on April 1, 2022. "He was a competitor, really fiery guy, and was proud to see that our guys brought good energy today."
 
Both teams brought their offense early by scoring a combined six goals in the first four minutes of the game. Binghamton got the first three from Colin DeLay, Jack Mellen and Ross Chazanow. After the River Hawks responded with a goal from Riley Lawhorn, Matthew Keegan scored to the Bearcats up 4-1. Johnny Soi's goal for UMass Lowell would make it 4-2 Binghamton at 11:51. The Bearcats then got three more goals in the frame from Liam Ferris, Gage Adams and Matthew Rincon, while UMass Lowell added one more tally from Garrett Murphy. Binghamton finished the first quarter up 7-3.
 
Both defenses would start to lock down moving forward. Keegan and Adams each scored again for the Bearcats in the second quarter, and Lawhorn got a goal for the River Hawks. That goal for UMass Lowell, however, was one of four shots on goal the Bearcats allowed for the entire quarter. Binghamton went into halftime up 9-4.
 
The Bearcats' defense would go on to shut out the River Hawks in the third quarter while only allowing one shot on goal. Declan Ferris and Ethan Insinga extended Binghamton's lead to 11-4 entering the fourth quarter.
 
Insinga helped Binghamton secure the win by scoring two more times in the final quarter to finish with his second-straight hat trick. Liam Ferris and Andrew Girolamo provided the other two goals for Binghamton in the frame, leading to the win.
 
Other Highlights

• This is the first time that Insinga has had a hat trick in consecutive games during his career. He has brought his career total for hat tricks up to five, with two this season and three in 2023.
• Both Mellen's and Rincon's goals were the first of their respective careers. For Rincon, who also assisted on Keegan's goal in the first quarter, his two points Saturday were the first he recorded this season.
• Saturday's game was the first time this season that all three of Binghamton's goalies took the field. Connor Winters made seven saves after starting the game to earn his fourth win of the season and 13th of his career, moving him up to third-most in program history. Nicky LaBanca then came in during the fourth quarter, where he made two saves. Finally, Garrett Taylor made his collegiate debut by playing in the last 2:29 for the Bearcats. He would stop two shots to without allowing a goal.
• For the second-straight contest, Binghamton finished with 25 points, tying its season high as a team. The Bearcats also had 25 points in their 17-12 win at New Jersey Institute of Technology on March 23.

 
Up Next
The Bearcats travel up north to take on defending America East regular season champion Vermont on Saturday, April 6 at noon.