In search of its first America East conference win of the season, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team hosted UMBC on Saturday afternoon in a tightly competitive matchup. The Bearcats took an early lead in the first half, but a surge from the Retrievers in the third period ultimately led to a 12-11 loss for BU.

“It comes down to consistency,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “That’s our biggest issue right now, and we’ve got to play an entire 60 minutes with the mentality that we maybe had in the first and fourth quarter.”

Three minutes in, a free-position shot for junior attack Carla Curth put Binghamton (3-8, 0-2 AE) on the board. The Retrievers (10-1, 3-0 AE) then quickly scored to tie the game at one. This did not deter BU, as Curth responded with another goal off an assist from sophomore midfielder Mia Forte. After that, junior attack Emma Blloshmi got on the board to give Binghamton a 3-1 lead. UMBC once again responded with a goal of their own.

The Bearcats, however, were able to end the period with a goal courtesy of senior midfielder Abigail Carroll and two more from senior attacker Marisa Tancredi — both of whom were assisted by senior attacker Olivia Muscolino — to put BU up 6-2 at the end of one.

“Just our mentality, I think that was a good shift from what we’ve seen in the last couple games,” Allen said. “Defensively, really dialed in, in low-clock situations and man down and certainly there in the fourth quarter. Getting some different personnel on the score sheet today was important to us too, from an offensive standpoint, so those are all positives.”

Looking to advance their lead, the Bearcats scored early into the second period when a pass from Muscolino found its way to Curth, who secured a hat trick with a score. The Retrievers then swapped goalies, hoping to keep Binghamton off the board. However, the Bearcats kept the ball rolling with scores off of free-position shots from Blloshmi and freshman midfielder Anthea Hayslip one minute apart to take a 9-2 lead. UMBC stormed back in response with five unanswered goals to cut BU’s lead down to 9-7 as they went into halftime.

“We certainly didn’t make the proper adjustments from a shooting standpoint,” Allen said. “I mean, we scouted [the UMBC goalie], we prepared for that. We just didn’t make the necessary adjustments with our shooting.”

Going into the third period, the Bearcats hoped to regain control of the game’s momentum, but the Retrievers had other plans. UMBC punched in four consecutive goals in the third to not only tie the game but also take an 11-9 lead over BU. Binghamton was able to break up the run before the period came to a close when a score by Muscolino made it 11-10.

The fourth period started with tough gameplay as the two teams traded blows. At the 7:30 mark, a free position shot by Muscolino allowed BU to tie the game at 11-11. As the minutes dwindled, both teams continued to search for a potential game-winner. It was UMBC who broke the tie, scoring the final goal of the match with 2:27 remaining. After two unsuccessful shots from Forte and Blloshmi, the clock expired and the Bearcats fell 12-11 to the Retrievers.

“I think UMBC made some good adjustments,” Allen said. “We’ve got to be able to make stops and convert on our offensive end when teams start to get the hot hand and that just didn’t happen for us in that second and third quarter today.”

Binghamton will continue to search for its first AE win when it hosts Vermont on Saturday, April 5. Faceoff is scheduled for noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.