The Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team kicks off its season today with some Midwestern flavor. The Bearcats will head to Duquesne University to face the University of Denver.

The team struggled in the 2008 season, coming in last in the America East, finishing 5-11 overall and 0-6 in the conference.

To make matters worse, the Bearcats were predicted to come out in the last AE preseason poll. The Bearcats did however finish 2008 No. 1 in the conference in saves/game (9.69) and No. 4 in groundballs/game.

This year BU head coach Tony Zostant and Co. will hope to reverse the situation and prove the consensus false.

The Bearcats come into the season with sophomore Ali Castiglie, who last season led the team in points and assists (18 goals and 19 assists). She was ranked seventh in the conference in assists. Castiglie, along with sophomores Kate Tesi and Lisa Illig, who had a total of 19 goals and six assists for the season, are the returning squad for the offensive core.

At midfield is Bearcat sophomore and captain Beth Moore, who scored 12 goals last season.

“The difference between last season and this season is our mindset,” said Moore. “We’re going hard, every day is intense and hopefully we’re going to bang out some big wins this season.”

Lizzie Wright, who plays both middie and attack, tallied nine goals and six assists last season. The junior also had 11 draw controls, eight ground balls and held a 92 percent shots on goal average.

The defensive end features sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Scott who picked up three wins on the season and recorded 67 saves. She ranked ninth in the AE last season for saves/game and tied for third-most wins in Binghamton’s Division I history. Senior Kelsey Pieper leads the team with 34 ground balls and 38 draw controls and currently holds all-time top-ten records for draw controls (44, in 2007) and draw controls per game (2.93, in 2008) in Bearcats history.

Zostant is looking forward to the upcoming games this season.

“We’re looking forward to playing somebody different,” said Zostant. “We’ve been scrimmaging against each other for so long, it’s going to be great to play Denver.”

The Bearcats are set to play the Pioneers at Duquesne University at 1 p.m. today.