UAlbany Lacrosse Downs Binghamton, 8-2, in America East Opener at John Fallon Field

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. – Corey Small had two goals and two assists in leading UAlbany to an 8-2 victory over Binghamton in the America East Conference opener for both teams on Saturday, March 29 at John Fallon Field. The temperature at face-off was below 30 degrees while a stiff northwest wind blew across the field.

UAlbany (2-5, AE 1-0) led 2-1 midway through the second quarter, but rattled off three goals in a two-minute-and-16-second span. Steve Ammann converted a bounce shot off a drive from the left side to start that run. After goalkeeper Brett Queener cleared the ball following one of his six saves, Small finished off John Alpizar’s crossing pass to complete a perfectly executed fastbreak. Mark Cometti drilled an underhanded shot from the left side after being set up by Small for a four-goal lead with 3:26 left in the period.

The teams exchanged man-up goals early in the third quarter. UAlbany’s Nate Sullivan sent a blast into the top right corner. The Bearcats’ Steven Carlson rifled a shot into the net off a pass from behind the cage by teammate Stephen Smith. The Great Danes put the contest away with a pair of unassisted goals. Freshman midfielder Kyle Crotty scored his second of the game by driving from the right point past a defender. Small tallied his 14th of the season when he scooped up a ground ball in the middle of the zone, moved to his left, and netted a behind-the-head shot past Binghamton goalkeeper Larry Kline.

“It’s always important to win your first conference game,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, whose team was coming off an eight-day layoff since defeating 11th-ranked Princeton. “We were sloppy offensively and didn’t execute. I was disappointed we didn’t put more points on the board. Binghamton’s goalkeeper made some good saves. They play a controlled style and we were patient on defense and forced them into turnovers.”

The Great Danes held the visitors to the lowest goal by a conference opponent since April 6, 2002. Binghamton (2-4, AE 0-1) had just 17 shots on the cage and was forced into 26 miscues. UAlbany held a 2-0 lead after the opening period on goals by Brian Grodotske and Crotty. Binghamton’s Drew Wichmann cut that deficit in half when he cut to the top of the crease to finish off Chris Mulheron’s feed shortly after a UAlbany offside penalty had expired.

Kline, who is third among the national leaders in save percentage, stopped eight shots for the Bearcats, who posted a 9-8 win on their home field in last year’s matchup between these teams. UAlbany has won 27 of their 34 regular-season game against America East opponents.

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UAlbany 8, Binghamton 2

Binghamton – Scoring: Drew Wichmann 1-0, Steven Carlson 1-0, Chris Mulheron 0-1, Stephen Smith 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Larry Kline (60:00, 9 saves, 8 GA).

UAlbany – Scoring: Corey Small 2-2, Kyle Crotty 2-0, Mark Cometti 1-0, Nate Sullivan 1-0, Brian Grodotske 1-0, Steve Ammann 1-0, John Alpizar 0-1, Jordan Levine 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Brett Queener (55:29, 6 saves, 2 GA), Dan McKeon (4:31, 1 save, 0 GA).