The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team was shut out Wednesday, 16-0, against No. 6 Stony Brook. The Seawolves (12-3, 5-0 America East) dominated from start to finish in a contest in which BU (4-11, 0-4 AE) failed to find the back of the net once.
SBU started the game out scorchingly hot, scoring four goals in the game’s first nine minutes. Junior attack Courtney Murphy scored three of the first four goals for the Seawolves. The possession problems that have plagued the Bearcats all season continued into the matchup, as Binghamton didn’t see much of the ball in the game’s first 30 minutes.
“Today we just struggled with possessions in general,” BU head coach Stephanie Allen said. “We just couldn’t come up with the ball as much as we would’ve liked today.”
Stony Brook continued its offensive onslaught by scoring four more goals to push its lead to 8-0. Although BU faced an almost insurmountable deficit, it took a few positives into halftime. The Bearcats’ defense hung tough with the talented Seawolves offense for the rest of the half, not allowing a single goal in the final 9:55.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, SBU started the second half as intensely as it had the first. The Seawolves scored three goals in just under nine minutes to extend their already sizable lead to 11-0. BU could not find an answer defensively as SBU poured in five more goals before the final whistle to easily defeat the Bearcats.
“Their ball movement and the tempo which they played offensively today was an increase from what we’ve seen in the last few games,” Allen said.
As good as the Stony Brook offense was, its defense was up to par, if not better. SBU shut down the BU attack completely, allowing just two Binghamton free-position shots on the game, both of which were saved. The Bearcats registered just eight shots throughout the course of the game and Allen believes her offense did not play as well as it could have.
“We just struggled to work off the ball today and really help our teammates out,” Allen said. “That’s what an offensive unit is all about.”
The star of the game was Murphy. She finished the game with a team-high eight goals and now has 73 on the season. This mark leads the country and is 14 goals higher than that of any other player. Murphy has tallied 205 career goals and has a realistic chance of breaking the all-time career goal record, which stands at 289.
“She has an incredibly good stick and knack for positioning herself to get the ball,” Allen said. “She’s a really talented player who we just weren’t able to contain today.”
The lost to the Seawolves was Binghamton’s seventh straight and they haven’t come out on top since March 20. With two games remaining against AE foes this season, however, Allen is still optimistic of her squad’s chances to make the AE tournament.
“We still have a chance to compete for a position in the AE tournament and that’s what we are keeping our sights set on,” Allen said. “We’re just going to keep preparing and working hard on a daily basis to get our program better.”
The Bearcats are set to return to action on Sunday against UMass Lowell. First draw is scheduled for 11 a.m. from the Cushing Field Complex in Lowell, Massachusetts.