For Immediate Release: April 30, 2005
Contact: Thomas Moore II (sports@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-2956

Binghamton men's lacrosse stuns No. 17 Stony Brook 9-8 in regular-season finale
Bearcats earn No. 3 seed for upcoming America East Tournament

Box Score

STONY BROOK, N.Y.--Sophomore attack Rob Williams (Fulton, N.Y.) and junior attack Phil Cavallo (Cedarhurst, N.Y.) each scored a team-high three goals leading Binghamton (4-8, 4-2 AE) to a 9-8 win at No. 17 Stony Brook (9-5, 4-2 AE) in an America East men's lacrosse game Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bearcats secured the No. 3 seed for the upcoming America Eat tournament. Binghamton will hit the road for a semifinal game Wednesday, playing the No. 2 seeded Albany.

"This was a great college lacrosse game," head coach Ed Stephenson said. "In the first half it was back and forth. Both our offense and defense came together and played an amazing second half."

Bo Tripodi struck first with one of his five goals for the Seawolves with 12:29 left in the quarter. Freshman midfielder Stephen Smith (Canandaigua, N.Y.) tied the game up at 1-1 with an unassisted goal 43 seconds later. Cavallo gave Binghamton the 2-1 lead with a goal assisted by junior attack Charlie Cook (Liverpool, N.Y.) with 7:17 left in the quarter. Tripodi and Chris Tracey each netted a goal for Stony Brook with less then five minutes left in the quarter.

With the Bearcats down 4-2 after the first quarter, sophomore attack Matt McNamara (Oswego, N.Y.) and Williams each scored a goal in the first four minutes of the second quarter to knot the game up at 4-4. Jason Cappadoro scored the final goal of the first half with 4:29 to play.

Stony Brook opened the game up in the third quarter with three goals, a pair by Tripodi and one by Rhys Duch to hold a 8-4 advantage. The Bearcats ralled going on a 5-0 run to end the game. Cavallo started the rally with an unassisted goal with 6:48 remaining in the quarter. Williams scored a man-up goal assisted by sophomore attack Jeff Kaylor (Beverly, Mass.) with 4:59 left to play in the third quarter. One minute and 56 seconds later Williams scored his third goal of the game on an assist by McNamara to put the Bearcats within a goal of the Seawolves. In another man-up situation sophomore attack Nate Kerstein (Rochester, N.Y.) scored the equalizer on an assist by Williams.

With the game game tied at 8-8 after three quarters, Cavallo scored his third goal of the game, which became the game winner, on an assist by junior midfielder Joe Conner (Ijamsville, Md.) to give the Bearcats the 9-8 lead with 8:52 left in the game.

Junior goalie Kevin McKeown (Brewster, N.Y.) made eight saves in goal, holding a potent Stony Brook offense that ranks third in the country to a season-low eight goals (against a conference opponent).

"Kevin got the job done today with some great saves," Stephenson said.

Binghamton outshot Stony Brook 27-26. Stony Brook won the ground ball battle, collecting 38 of the 67 ground balls.

The Bearcats now carry the #3 seed into next week's America East Championship and will head to #2 seed Albany on Wednesday.

NOTES
The Seawolves are the eighth ranked team that the Bearcats have played this season and the first they have defeated... Binghamton will carry a season-high three-game win streak into the post-season... The Bearcats hosted Albany earlier this season and fell 12-6.