The Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team extended its losing streak to three games this weekend, dropping the finale of a four-game homestand to Monmouth University 6-4 on Friday before traveling to Philadelphia and losing 10-4 to the Drexel University Dragons on Sunday afternoon.
Friday’s match was extremely close and defensive, as both sides had difficulty finding the back of the net in the first half. Monmouth opened the scoring four minutes into the game, but the next 22 minutes of the match saw no goals. Junior attack Lis Zuern finally notched Binghamton’s first goal with fewer than three minutes remaining in the half, and with seconds to go, senior midfielder Beth Moore made a strong move across the middle and finished another opportunity, allowing the Bearcats to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
The team had previously held only one halftime lead this season, an 8-3 advantage over Niagara University in what amounted to a 20-8 win on March 4.
With a tendency to come out of the gate strong in the second half, the Bearcats seemed poised to take control of the match. It was the Hawks, however, who grabbed a goal just over a minute in to even the score.
“For some reason we couldn’t finish our shots,” said Binghamton head coach Tony Zostant. “We played very hard and set ourselves up well, but we couldn’t put away our opportunities and that really hurt us in the second half.”
The low-scoring affair continued as both teams held a 2-2 tie for the next 15 minutes.
Senior goalie Lauren Scott made several saves during this time and finished the game with a season-high 15.
“She has been seeing the ball really well the past few games,” Zostant said of Scott. “Lauren has been making some great saves lately, and you could see in the Monmouth game that she kept it close.”
Scott could only do so much however, and Monmouth scored three quick goals over the course of two minutes late in the half to take a 5-2 lead. The Hawks never looked back, eventually taking the game 6-4.
The Bearcats didn’t fare much better later in the weekend in their contest against Drexel. Perhaps because of the fatigue of playing three games in five days, Binghamton allowed the Dragons to take a commanding 7-0 lead over the course of the first 25 minutes before getting on the board.
Moore scored her 12th goal of the season to make the score 7-1. It was also the 90th goal in her collegiate career, breaking Binghamton’s all-time record.
Another goal by senior attack Ali Castiglie pulled the Bearcats within five at the break, but the deficit proved too large to overcome in the second half despite a solid defensive performance that allowed only three goals.
For the game, Drexel outshot Binghamton 21-9.
“We didn’t finish early on and got in a hole quickly,” Zostant said. “Drexel is very quick team, but the game was much closer than the score indicated.”
Binghamton’s 21 turnovers did not help the cause, ultimately dooming its offense, which mustered only two more goals in the second half and failed to tally an assist for the second straight game.
“We would like to have everyone involved. We haven’t had many assists since the Niagara game, and that means we aren’t getting the desired movement and cutting we should have,” Zostant said. “We have a full week of rest, we’re going to regroup and address those issues ahead of our trip to North Carolina.”
Binghamton’s next test is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday at High Point University.