UAlbany lacrosse beats Binghamton 10-4, clinches share of regular season title
VESTAL, N.Y. – The Great Dane defense held Binghamton to four goals as the #5/5 UAlbany men’s lacrosse team secured a share of the America East regular season title with a 10-4 victory in Vestal on Wednesday night.
In addition, UAlbany (10-2, 5-0 AE) has secured hosting rights for the 2017 America East Tournament. The semifinals will be on Thursday, May 4th and the final will be on Saturday, May 6th.
It is the fifth straight season the UAlbany has earned a league regular season title. UAlbany can take the regular season title outright with a win vs. Hartford on Saturday, April 29th. UAlbany has won 27 consecutive America East regular season games and has had at least 10 victories each of the past five years.
UAlbany fought back from an early one-goal deficit vs. Binghamton (9-3, 3-2 AE), scoring five goals in the second quarter and leading by two. From there, the defense shut out the Bearcats in the second half to lead the Great Danes to the six-goal win. The game was tied 4-4; UAlbany scored the game’s final six goals.
“It was a great, competitive game, Binghamton played very hard,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr. “We really had to bring our game, against an aggressive team. Our defense played outstanding, especially on man-down, and I am real proud of the effort we put forth.”
Four goals in the lowest total that UAlbany has held an opponent to this season. JD Colarusso had 13 saves in the victory with the unit as a whole causing 10 turnovers. Troy Reh had five ground balls and three caused turnovers, adding a goal and an assist, while Stone Sims had three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
On offense, Justin Reh, Jakob Patterson and Bennett Drake all had two goals, with the first adding an assist. TD Ierlan won 13-of-18 faceoffs (72.2%) with five ground balls.
For Binghamton, Tom Moore netted two goals and had two caused turnovers while Joe Licata had a goal and two assists. Tanner Cosens had the loss in goal with seven saves.
UAlbany held early on possessions, with Sims causing a turnover at midfield to halt a Binghamton clear attempt. Binghamton scored from a catch and shoot to go up. The UAlbany ride and multiple saves for Colarusso kept containing Binghamton: with 3:44 left, a turnover off the ride led to Justin Reh finding Patterson on the doorstep for the goal. Binghamton got the goal back on a score from Moore, making it 2-1 Binghamton after one.
Again the defense got the offense going in the start of the second, with Troy Reh stripping a stick of an attack, clearing, and passing off to his brother for the rip and score. After Binghamton got the goal back on a man-up situation, twice Drake got a step past his defender and scored on a run to the cage, giving UAlbany a 4-3 lead with 9:58 in the 2nd.
Following Moore getting the goal back for Binghamton, UAlbany struck back twice. Connor Fields set up a catch and shoot for Justin Reh for the score in the left post, then Kyle McClancy added one on a shot that eeked past the goal line before the keeper could save it. UAlbany took a 6-4 lead into halftime.
Colarusso was a wall to begin the third quarter, saving three Binghamton shots on the first Bearcat possession of the half. UAlbany peppered away at the goal itself with Jack Burgmaster and Josh Egan, with Cosens saving both. With 3:14 left in the 3rd after a saved Fields shot, Fields picked up a ground ball off a scrum and found Patterson next to the crease for the point blank goal. Later after two more missed shots, Eli Lasda weaved through traffic and scored on a high to low shot. The UAlbany man-down defense held the rest of the quarter, keeping the UAlbany lead at 8-4 after three.
Into the 4th, Colarusso again held with a save on a hard shot, then next Binghamton possession, Sims forced a turnover. UAlbany started to chew up clock, having a long offensive possession in the middle of the fourth.
After another successful hold by the man-down unit, Troy Reh cleared himself and scored on the run. Colarusso and Co. held on a five-shot Binghamton possession, with the keeper saving two more shots. UAlbany added one more late goal on a rip from Fields as UAlbany took the victory 10-4.
UAlbany will have its next two games at home, hosting #12/11 Yale on Saturday, April 22nd at 7 p.m. as the end cap to the Spring Stomp. For ticket information, visit ualbanysports.com/tickets or call the UAlbany ticket office directly at 518-442-DANE.
