One of the many marks of a great team is how they deal with adversity, and UVM men’s lacrosse showed that they can deal with it well.

Coming off of a 21-5 loss to No. 1 University at Albany March 17, the No. 16 Catamounts rebounded with a 10-6 home win over the Binghamton Bearcats at Virtue Field March 24 after a hat trick by sophomore midfielder Rob Hudson.

Vermont controlled play in the early going, pouring on pressure, but it was the Bearcats who struck first, with Sean Makar beating sophomore goalkeeper Nick Washuta.

UVM fired back, scoring three goals in the final five minutes of the first quarter to take a 3-1 lead.

Binghamton refused to go away, scoring 13 seconds into the second half before Hudson and senior attacker Ian MacKay extended Vermont’s lead to 5-2.

But the Bearcats took momentum into the dressing room, scoring the last two goals of the first half, including Liam Reaume’s goal with four seconds remaining to cut the lead to 5-4.

The defense shone in the third quarter. Each team scored only once. Hudson added his second goal to extend the lead to 6-4, but Will Talbott-Shere reduced the margin to one goal 90 seconds later.

The Catamounts finally put the persistent Bearcats away in a penalty-filled fourth quarter.

Hudson scored the opener to complete his hat trick 19 seconds into the half, but UVM ran into penalty trouble. Two players went to the penalty box.

Those penalties led to Thomas McAndrew scoring a goal on the man-up advantage to cut the lead back to one again. Hudson added his fourth halfway through the period, and the Cats scored two more goals to pull away, both from junior attacker Dawes Milchling.

“We didn’t score much in the third, so it was good getting that momentum swing going into the fourth and finishing them off,” Hudson said.

Washuta was busy between the sticks, making 18 saves for UVM. Kevin Carbone made 6 saves for Binghamton.

Head coach Chris Feifs praised Binghamton’s defense while also crediting his team’s late run.

“They made us work for every shot that we had, and their goalie made some nice saves,” Feifs said. “When you run a good offense and you’re not seeing that goal production, sometimes it’s a little frustrating.

“But I’m glad the guys stayed the course and finished the game with our highest scoring quarter in the fourth.”

The Catamounts improved to 8-1, while the Bearcats fell to 1-8.

UVM travels to Hartford, Connecticut, to face the Hartford Hawks March 31. They return to Virtue Field April 7 to face the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks.