The Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team lost its fourth game of the season on Wednesday, falling to Canisius University by a score of 12-7. The Bearcats (1-4) have had a rough time so far this season, with their only victory coming in a blowout win against Niagara last Friday. The Golden Griffins of Canisius have historically been a thorn in the side of Binghamton’s women’s lacrosse program; Wednesday’s loss is the fourth straight the team has suffered at the hands of Canisius, making its overall record against them 1-7.
A consistent trend that has plagued Binghamton this season is its inability to play consistently in the first half, and it largely finds itself in major holes going into halftime. This trend continued against Canisius, who jumped out to an early four-goal lead only six minutes into the game. This lead gave the Golden Griffins a comfortable hold on the game, and they held nothing less than a three-goal cushion throughout the length of play.
Senior midfielder Beth Moore shined on the Bearcat side of the ball. Moore put Binghamton on the board a little over six seconds into the first half with an unassisted goal, and scored her second goal of the game shortly after that to bring the Bearcats within three. However, Moore’s two goals would be the only ones scored by Binghamton in the first half, and after Canisius netted three more before the end of the half, the Golden Griffins took an 8-2 lead into the locker room.
“The first half has been an issue for us this season,” said Binghamton head coach Tony Zostant. “We had a hard time controlling draws in the first half so they were almost always on offense and we were always on defense. We played better in the second half, but it’s hard to dig yourself out of an 8-2 hole.”
Binghamton showed more life in the second half, outscoring Canisius 5-4 on the strength of another unassisted goal from Moore and an early free position score from senior Ali Castiglie. However, the lead mounted by Canisius in the first half would prove insurmountable, despite the improved play showed by the Bearcats in the second half.
Based on her stellar performance, Moore was named America East Player of the Game. She will be looking to put her name in the Binghamton women’s lacrosse history book going further into the season, as her third goal in the second half was the 85th of her career, putting her four goals behind the all-time record for BU.
“Beth is an aggressive player and she is always looking to make an impact offensively,” Zostant said. “She’s been very consistent and steady for four years and it’s great to see that she’s only four goals away from becoming the scoring leader.”
Another problem for Binghamton has been its inability to create any sort of fluidity on offense. All of the goals scored by Binghamton in the game against Canisius were either unassisted or came out of the free position. In fact, the Bearcats have only notched 17 total assists over the course of the season, 10 of which came against their last opponent Niagara, the only game they have won thus far.
“I think that team chemistry is better than it was last year so I don’t think that’s the problem,” Zostant said of the team’s offensive problems. “We had a hard time running any of our offensive sets but we can’t really put our finger on why we can’t play consistently for 60 minutes and get some offensive production.”
Monmouth University comes to the Bearcats Sports Complex today to take on the Bearcats. Binghamton lost a close game to Monmouth last year by a score of 12-10, and the Bearcats hope to reverse their luck with a win this evening.
“We are capable of putting up goals, but we just have to put together 60 minutes,” Zostant said. “Some of our players step up for certain games and then fade away for others. We just need to be more consistent.”
The game against Monmouth will mark the end of Binghamton’s four-game homestand. Faceoff is set for 4 p.m. today.