With only a handful of games left in the 2006 season, the fight is on for the women’s lacrosse team.

Hoping to improve on what is arguably the best season in the program’s short history, the Bearcats took their 4-8 mark into two important conference matchups this past week. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a spring break that they’ll want to soon forget.

The first game saw Binghamton pitted against conference foe and national powerhouse Boston. The Terriers came into the game ranked 11th in the nation with an 8-3 record. Their play at the East Gym Complex Wednesday showed why.

The Terriers came out of the gate with one location on their mind — the back of the net. They scored the game’s first 16 goals, and held Binghamton scoreless through the first half.

“Against Boston, our game plan was to try to keep possession a bit longer and pick the times when we want to go to goal,” said head coach Emily Edmonston. “We weren’t as successful as we needed to be.”

Lauren Wetherell and Julia Demuth were able to get the Bearcats on the board in the second half, but that would be Binghamton’s only goals on the afternoon as Boston ran away 20-2.

The Bearcats’ tough schedule brought them to Memorial Field at UNH Saturday to play a Wildcats team that recorded seven straight victories.

Once again Binghamton fell behind early, giving up 11 unanswered goals in the first half. The trend would continue in the second 30 minutes as Binghamton only managed seven shots to UNH’s 39, en route to an 18-2 defeat.

Danielle Edwards netted both goals for the Bearcats and Sandra Alvarez recorded 11 saves in net. Freshman Carolyn Cuneo took over midway through the second half and recorded three saves of her own.

“The progress we have made at practice after playing these teams has been tremendous,” Edmonston said. “It opens up concepts for us and allows us to see aspects of our game that really stand out.”

On the bright side for Binghamton, all-time leading scorer Lauren Wetherell was recently ranked 15th in the nation in assists per game, with 1.75.

“All these kids put in a lot of time in January and show a lot of heart, but she is someone who has been here through seasons where they didn’t win any games,” Edmonston said. “To continue to be ranked and contribute so much every year through the growth of the team is really great.”

Binghamton is back in action tomorrow with a winnable conference showdown at Moulton Winder Field in Vermont. The host Catamounts sport a 5-7 record while the Bearcats’ record stands at 4-10.

“We are switching things up a little bit in our defensive transition for Vermont,” said junior midfielder Danielle Edwards. “Hopefully that will stop them from getting the ball into their attacking third.”