After being defeated in two consecutive matchups last week to Canisius and Ohio State by two total goals, the Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team was looking to earn a victory and get back to .500 on Saturday afternoon in a match against Marist. The team was not able to take the win on Saturday, instead falling in an 18-8 loss to the Red Foxes (4-3) on the road.
The Bearcats (3-5) struggled in the first half, giving up a total of 10 goals to an efficient Marist offense, which only had 11 shots on goal in the first half. The Red Foxes were coming off of a hard-fought 13-8 win earlier in the week in a road contest against Bucknell.
Redshirt senior attack Brianne Arthur powered the Bearcats to an early lead, scoring the first goal of the game less than a minute into play. However, the lead was short-lived as the Red Foxes answered with a goal of their own seconds later to tie it up. This back-and-forth scoring continued as both teams scored once in the next few minutes to knot the game at two. After trading scores, Marist found the back of the net five times unanswered. The Bearcats were able to find a way to get their offense going again later in the first half, finishing with a total of six goals and keeping the game within reach heading into the halftime locker room only down by four.
Senior midfielder Jacqueline Kennedy totaled a team-high four goals on the day, with three in the first half, accounting for half of the Bearcats’ scores for the game.
“She’s just a huge factor all over the field,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen. “Her ability to cause turnovers that can transition into offensive play is really critical … I thought she did a really nice job of pushing the tempo.”
BU also received contributions on offense from senior attack Tiffany Ryan with two goals, and junior midfielder Rebecca Golderman, who added a goal of her own.
The Bearcats started the second half strong, notching the first goal of the half and pulling to within three just several plays into the half. Despite the fast offense, Marist’s attack proved to be too much for the BU defense, constantly threatening on that side of the field. In response to the opening second-half goal, Marist went on to jump-start the second half with eight straight unanswered goals, giving it an 18-7 advantage and essentially putting the game out of reach. The Red Fox attack was driven by both sophomore attack Samantha Mehalick and senior attack Lauren Mazza, each tallying six goals in the game.
“Marist did a nice job of exploiting us with their speed … we just did not execute our game plan well,” Allen said of her team’s defense on Saturday.
Kennedy scored her fourth goal of the day to bring the game to 18-8 as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
After losing four consecutive matchups, the Bearcats are still positive going into their next game as they open conference play.
“We’re treating it as a 0-0 record right now … everybody is on an equal playing field,” Allen said. “The focus is working on our intensity and execution so we can be ready to put things together against Vermont.”
BU is set to face Vermont on Saturday. The contest is scheduled for 3 p.m. from Virtue Field in Burlington, Vermont