The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team played its long-awaited home opener against Pittsburgh on Thursday. After three close periods, the Bearcats pulled away, adding five goals and shutting out the Panthers in the final quarter. BU earned its first victory of the season 11-5, bouncing back from the opening-day loss.

“I think we’re just carrying in momentum from today,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “For us, we’ve just got to bring the intensity and mentality that we brought in the second half, especially today.”

BU (1-1) started off the scoring in the second minute of play with a goal from junior midfielder Kristen Scheidel, assisted by senior attack Kenna Newman. The Panthers (2-1) quickly got on the board themselves before junior attack Madison Murphy scored to put Binghamton back on top. Pittsburgh snuck in a second goal with under two minutes left as the quarter came to a close with the scored knotted at 2-2.

The second period remained scoreless for its opening five minutes, but Scheidel got the game moving again combining with Newman again for another goal. Pittsburgh responded once again to maintain the tie but earned itself a two-minute penalty with 36 seconds on the clock. The Bearcats took advantage of the visitor’s mishap as sophomore midfielder Abigail Carroll scored with just three seconds left as they finished the half up 4-3.

The third period kicked off with more than six hard-fought, scoreless minutes. Pittsburgh tied things up again but earned another yellow card nearly a minute later. Senior midfielder Isabella Meli capitalized on the personnel advantage to resurrect the lead. The Panthers brought it back to a tie one final time before Carroll scored an unassisted goal to wrap up the third period with a 6-5 lead.

“You’re man-up, you should be scoring,” Allen said. “[I was] proud of the girls for their execution in their man-up opportunities today. For us, it just comes down to possession and working the clock and those possessions. I thought they did a really nice job of getting the best look and not the first look.”

The final frame saw the Bearcats break away from the stalemate when Murphy notched two early goals to complete the hat trick. Less than a minute later, Carroll ran half of the field through the Panthers’ best attempts to block her, before feeding a quick pass to sophomore attack Olivia Muscolino for an equally quick shot and goal. Meli and Newman finished out the game with two final goals as the hosts secured the 11-5 win.

“I thought [Carroll] did a really nice job of pushing the tempo in that,” Allen said. “Muscolino can put the ball in the back of the net when she really wants to, and I thought she shot to score that time. There was a huge excitement and explosion off of the bench too after that goal, and I think they knew at that point in time we’ve just got to maintain possession and be smart with our possessions from here on out.”

Binghamton was strong defensively, breaking up Panther passes as only one of Pittsburgh’s goals was assisted. Converting all three penalties into goals and outshooting the Panthers all four periods allowed for BU’s victory. Murphy’s three goals on six shots on goal and Newman’s four assists highlighted the stat sheet for the hosts. Senior goalie Emily Manning registered 10 saves and allowed no goals in the fourth period.

Binghamton will start its first of four straight road games when it takes on Syracuse on Monday, Feb. 20. First draw control is set for 4 p.m. at the JMA Wireless dome in Syracuse, New York.