Sunday afternoon was a cold day on the field, and the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s 9-7 loss to Marist did little to warm up the fans at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
The defeat marks the third straight game dropped by BU (1-5). The Bearcats outshot the Red Foxes (2-3) 34-22 on Sunday, but failed to capitalize on chances.
“Obviously, we’re frustrated and felt like we went in well-prepared, but we just fell short in our execution,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen. “We’re not in a bad place right now with what we have talent-wise and athlete-wise, but are just beating ourselves at this point in time. [Our problems] are all fixable things, so we’re just looking to get those things dialed in this week at practice.”
The Bearcats started the game strong, with two early goals, one from junior attack Skye Schumacher and another from sophomore midfielder Rebecca Golderman. But the Red Foxes made their presence known midway through the first period, scoring four consecutive goals over seven minutes to go up, 5-2.
With 36 seconds left in the first half, junior attack Tiffany Ryan found the back of the net to pull the Bearcats to within two heading into the break. Golderman scored three goals — two of which were unassisted — in an attempt to change the course of the game. She has now scored a team-best 19 goals in the season.
Despite scoring four goals in the second half, BU’s late comeback attempt was not enough to take down the Red Foxes. Marist matched BU’s four goals in the second period, two of which came from star sophomore midfielder Hailey Wagner.
A bright spot for the Bearcats in their comeback attempt was junior goalkeeper Emma Jehle, who made 10 saves over the course of the game, matching the number of saves made by Marist’s goalkeeper, senior Abigail Witczak.
“[Jehle] really did a nice job between the pipes and came up with some sparks when we needed them most in both the first and second half,” Allen said. “I thought she did a really nice job of holding things down in our defense and giving us some of those momentum swings that we needed.”
BU will return to the field next on Saturday against Saint Francis. First draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.