On Saturday, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team faced off against Quinnipiac for the team’s final nonconference matchup of the season. After giving up an early 3-0 lead, the Bearcats were able to rally back for a 16-11 victory, earning their fifth-straight win over the Bobcats.

“We got into a little bit of a hole to start the game, and we were able to battle back from that and show that we have that ability to put a stop to teams’ runs and to battle from behind,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “I’m really proud of them and their performance today, but more than anything their mindset.”

Although BU (5-4) went down 3-0 early on, the Bearcats scored two goals within one minute of each other to bring their deficit to one. Quinnipiac (4-3) kept its lead as the 10-minute mark approached, and the two teams traded goals for the remainder of the first period. However, with one minute remaining, sophomore midfielder Jesse Barer put in a free position shot to tie the match at five going into the second frame.

“I think putting ourselves in a game that we knew was gonna be a battle today was important to have,” Allen said. “Competition like that heading into conference where it wasn’t so lopsided, and I thought it showed a lot of resiliency from our players today.”

Although Binghamton kept pace with Quinnipiac to end the first quarter, the Bobcats continued to hold the advantage through the second. The Bearcats let in two goals in the period as Quinnipiac only conceded one as BU went into the half down 7-6. In the first half, Binghamton allowed 19 shots, 10 of them being on goal and nine of them being free position shots.

“I think in the first half we didn’t help [junior goalie Emily Manning] out very much by giving her a lot of free positions that she had to face,” Allen said. “I thought she had an outstanding game and really just came up with some big stops when we needed it to help momentum swing in our direction.”

Manning ended the match with seven saves and faced 18 shots on goal.

The penultimate quarter began a turning point for the hosts. The Bearcats opened the scoring up for both teams, but another back-and-forth scoring flurry saw the match tied at eight with more than half the period to play. Then, as the three-minute mark approached, Binghamton began a 4-0 run to end the quarter with a 12-8 lead. Junior attack Kenna Newman contributed two goals during this stretch.

“I think more than anything [Newman] just understood the game plan and the strategy of ours going in,” Allen said. “I thought she did a nice job of reading the defense. The type of pressure that she was seeing, she knew she could beat her matchup and she did a nice job of keeping her head up and being an anticipation type of player.”

The Bearcats maintained their lead throughout the fourth quarter, only allowing the Bobcats to score three more goals and adding on four of their own to close out the match 16-11. Newman led BU’s offensive efforts with four goals and added two assists as well. Freshman attack Marisa Tancredi also supported the offense with three goals of her own. Binghamton had four other players contribute two goals each during the match.

“It was an overall good team performance and some good adjustments made by our players heading into the second half,” Allen said. “Really excited for the team to head into conference with a winning record and two good wins this past week under their belt.”

The game against Quinnipiac marked the Bearcats’ final nonconference matchup as they will move on to their America East (AE) slate for the remainder of the season.

BU’s next matchup is scheduled against UAlbany on Saturday, March 26. First draw control is set for 4 p.m. at John Fallon Field in Albany, New York.