The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team traveled to Loudonville, New York on Saturday afternoon for a nonconference matchup against Siena. Both teams looked to bounce back after dropping games to ranked opponents in prior matchups. The game stayed fairly close throughout, but BU struggled to convert its shots and was shut out in the third period, resulting in an 11-5 loss.

“I don’t think we showed up to play [on Saturday],” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “It was tough because we had a good, complete game against Pitt, and had some good moments in our game against Syracuse. To see us come out and play as flat as we did, we need to turn things around quickly.”

The Bearcats (1-3) and the Saints (2-2) played an even first quarter where both teams had four shots on goal in addition to one man-up goal each. BU was able to take a 2-1 lead in the period thanks to two early goals by sophomore attack Olivia Muscolino with just over nine minutes left in the frame. Siena took a narrow 3-2 lead into the second period, one they would not relinquish for the rest of the game, after scoring a goal in the final seconds of the first period.

“I think [Siena’s] goalie played well,” Allen said. “I thought we also made her job easier than we needed to. We talked a lot going into the week about shot selection. We take a lot of time in our preparation to work on shooting. The execution just wasn’t there. I thought the opportunities were there throughout the game, and we just weren’t able to finish on our looks.”

The second began with the Saints taking a quick 4-2 advantage over the Bearcats just 43 seconds into the period. Just over nine minutes later, sophomore midfielder Abigail Carroll responded with a goal of her own, bringing BU to within one, but Siena netted one more goal before the end of the period. Despite leading the Saints in shots on goal 8-7, the Bearcats faced a two-goal deficit going into the half.

“We were playing very flat on the offensive end,” Allen said. “The entire first half we were trying to play better as a unit and not so individualized. At halftime we were talking about the types of looks we wanted to generate and about working more as a unit or in pairs or groups of three out there. Slow start, slow finish for the offensive unit [on Saturday], and something that we’re going back to the drawing board and going to kind of figure out what’s best for that unit moving forward for them to do what we know they’re capable of.”

The Bearcats struggled in the third period as they only took one shot on goal as opposed to the seven on goal for the Saints. After being shut out offensively in the third quarter and allowing three scores, Binghamton faced a five-goal deficit heading into the final frame.

“I think our defensive unit was pretty strong in the first half and gave up some easy fast break goals to start off the second half,” Allen said. “It sank any momentum that we might have started to generate for ourselves. It was a team loss [on Saturday]. While offense wasn’t necessarily converting on opportunities, we’ve got to be better from both ends of the field and connect better as a team.”

The fourth quarter began with another goal by Muscolino to cut into the Saints’ lead. However, the hosts responded quickly, bringing their lead back up to five. Junior midfielder Hayley Weltner would score the Bearcats’ final goal of the game with about five minutes remaining in the match. The Saints went on to score two more times as they secured an 11-5 victory.

“We need point production and generation from everybody on the offensive end,” Allen said. “It can’t just be one or two individuals out there. While [Muscolino] or [junior attack Madison Murphy] might bring a spark, we need seven threats out there playing on that side of the field, and that’s kind of what we’re looking for moving forward.”

Binghamton will look to snap its two game losing streak against Lafayette on Wednesday, March 1. First draw control is set for 7:30 p.m. at Fisher Stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania.