In its opening match of America East play, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team suffered a 17-6 loss at Bryant on Saturday afternoon. An early four-goal run from the Bulldogs saw them take a 5-1 lead in the first quarter and the hosts never looked back, outscoring the Bearcats 12-5 throughout the remainder of play to hand them their first conference loss.

“It was a tough loss and one that doesn’t sit well with us.” wrote Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “We did not play to our potential and consistency is our biggest focus right now and moving forward.”

Bryant (6-4, 1-1 AE), opened play on Saturday with a bang, scoring on its first possession of the match. Keeping pace was Binghamton (3-7, 0-1 AE), who took advantage of a woman-up free-position opportunity when junior attack Emma Blloshmi found net on the next possession. The Bulldogs would begin to build a lead, going on a 4-0 scoring run before Blloshmi got back on the board for BU with an assist from senior attack Olivia Muscolino. A final score from Bryant with 5:07 to play in the quarter would make it a 6-2 game heading into quarter two.

“We hit a lot of pipes on Saturday which means we are getting looks, but we are working on the patience aspect and taking the extra second to get our shots inside of the pipe,” Allen wrote. “It is a focus thing for our attackers right now and an area of our game I know we can improve upon.”

The Bearcats began the second quarter eager to trim their deficit, rattling off three unsuccessful shots. It would instead be Bryant’s first shot that opened scoring in the quarter, as the Bulldogs built the lead to 7-2. BU continued to look for net throughout the quarter, outshooting Bryant 9-6, but the Bearcats were kept off the board and another goal from the Bulldogs saw Bryant go into the half with an 8-2 lead.

“Our decision-making and sense of urgency lacked at times even though that has been a point of emphasis for us all season,” Allen wrote. “We will run through a lot of low-clock situations this week and preventing fast breaks — both of which impacted the game on Saturday.”

Bryant were first to score yet again, but an immediate draw control win from BU gave Muscolino the chance to score her first of the game, and keep Binghamton in it. However, the Bulldogs dominated play through the core of the period, scoring three straight. Back-to-back goals from Muscolino and Blloshmi trimmed the Bulldog lead to 12-5. Bryant — gunning for the victory — embarked on another three goal run to end the quarter, effectively ending BU’s hopes of a comeback.

“Bryant had a harder fight on the 50/50 balls this weekend,” Allen wrote. “We stressed that pre-game as one of the areas that we needed to win to come out on top and it wasn’t executed. It continues to be a priority in every game — the little things will make a big impact on the overall outcome of the game.”

Now down by 10, Binghamton elected to substitute in sophomore goalie Maeve Sayre, and two forced turnovers from senior midfielder Angelina Suau helped to keep the deadlock through the first half of the final period. Eventually, Bryant broke through for its 16th goal of the match, but soon after Muscolino found net to secure her third-consecutive hat trick. A final score from the Bulldogs with 1:07 remaining brought the score to 17-6 as the Bearcats fell in their first match of AE play.

“We are just focused on getting back to a place in which our team culture and foundational aspects of our units are consistently executed,” Allen wrote. “We have a lot of potential within this team and hope that our leadership shines as we stay hungry to face one of America East’s top teams this weekend.”

The Bearcats will look to get their first win of AE play when they host UMBC on Saturday, March 29. First draw control is set for 1 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.