The cheering from the crowd boomed as senior attack Katie Gaudet netted her second goal of the season and secured the win for the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team during this past Saturday’s game against the New Hampshire, defeating UNH (6-10, 4-3 America East) for the first time in program history and securing its No. 3 seed in AE Conference standings, behind only No. 2 Albany and No. 1 Stony Brook.
While it was a solid day for the Bearcats (8-8, 5-2 AE) as a team, things were just as bright on an individual level. Senior midfielder Jacqueline Kennedy broke the career caused turnovers record, pushing her career total to 77 caused turnovers and surpassing the previous record of 74 set by Allie Rodgers, ‘16. In addition to this, Kennedy netted two goals to contribute to the Bearcats’ win. Redshirt senior attack Brianne Arthur also showcased her offensive skillset out of the field while she netted five goals, bringing her total to 42 goals — 15 more than the second-highest scorer on the team. Between the pipes, senior goalie Emma Jehle also had a noteworthy performance, corralling seven saves over the course of the match.
“I thought Jehle did an amazing job in the net,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen. “Our defense worked on the looks we were expecting to see, but I thought that they had a couple different personnel out there that were unexpected to us, and we managed to hold our own.”
BU came out onto the field strong and logged its first goal less than two minutes into play, courtesy of Arthur. However, UNH’s freshman midfielder Elizabeth Blanding quickly fired back and netted a goal of her own. Senior attack Tiffany Ryan joined in and scored two more goals for the Bearcats to put them up 3-1. In two free position shots, UNH tied the score at 3-3, but Arthur netted another score to end the period.
“For us, it was about being aggressive offensively and not sitting back on our heels,” Allen said.
During the second half of the game, the Bearcats never surrendered their lead. About 30 seconds into the period, junior midfielder Rebecca Golderman earned her 27th goal of the season and powered Binghamton to a 5-3 advantage. Senior midfielder Carly Wooters of UNH found the back of the net next, but freshman attack Paige Volkmann and sophomore midfielder Alissa Franze both followed with goals of their own.
Arthur scored twice before the Wildcats got back on the board with a goal from senior midfielder Rebecca Sennott. Kennedy immediately launched a shot past the UNH goalie to counter as this sequence went on to occur again — UNH scored and Kennedy fired back, landing another goal. Arthur then added to the tally, netting her fifth and final score. UNH snuck in one last goal before Gaudet sealed the game with the last point of the match, giving BU a victory by six and clinching a spot in the AE Tournament.
“I’m just incredibly proud of our performance,” Allen said. “Something we’ve talked with them about all season is stepping up under pressure and managing the game, which I thought we did really well in the second half. We executed exactly up to our expectations.”
The game honored Binghamton’s 11 seniors, whose final playing times are upon them. The Bearcats are set to travel to the AE Tournament held May 4 through May 6, which will be hosted by No. 1 Stony Brook.