After recording its first win of the season against Colgate, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team came up short against Dartmouth Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats (1-3) fell to the Big Green (3-0) by a score of 15-11.
Junior midfielder Jacqueline Kennedy, who logged four goals, one ground ball and one caused turnover for the game, came out of the gates firing to record her first tally three minutes into play. Despite the Bearcats’ early offense, Dartmouth went on to score three consecutive goals.
Following a free-position goal by sophomore midfielder Rebecca Golderman, the Big Green answered back with two straight tallies to increase its lead to 4-2 at the halfway mark of the first half. Even though Kennedy and junior attacker Tiffany Ryan each added a goal later in the opening frame, the Bearcats entered halftime down, 9-4.
BU continued to stagnate on both sides of the ball, giving up two goals to open up the second period. Although this game seemed to be already out of reach just four minutes into the half, BU proceeded to rack up five straight goals. Golderman, sophomore midfielder Olivia Batista and sophomore attacker Emily Yoo all scored before Kennedy netted back-to-back goals to cut Dartmouth’s lead to 11-9.
After slowly watching its lead slip away with 15 minutes left in the match, Dartmouth cashed in with three straight goals to increase the Bearcats’ deficit to five. Trying to trim the Big Green’s advantage, both Golderman and Ryan tallied one goal apiece in the final sequences. The Bearcats’ comeback effort ultimately fell short and they earned their third loss of the nonconference season.
“We found ourselves in a hole and couldn’t dig our way out,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen, according to bubearcats.com. “I am proud of our team for fighting back and putting us in a position where we still had a chance. Lacrosse is a game of runs and we need to put ourselves on the better side of that next game.”
As a team, the Bearcats lost the shots-on-goal battle as well as saves, turnovers and draw controls. Additionally, Dartmouth finished with 14 more ground balls than the Bearcats (34-20). BU is currently tied for last in the America East with an average of 13.7 ground balls per game and is sixth in turnovers per game (19.33).
Aside from racking up another loss on the season, the offensive play of Golderman and Kennedy has been a major upside for the otherwise lackluster campaign. Golderman has 14 goals on the year while Kennedy has nine. Both have been influential in keeping BU competitive in close games.
Looking to capture its second win, BU is heading home for a nonconference matchup with Canisius Tuesday afternoon. Opening draw is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.