The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team was in it until the end against Canisius on Wednesday night at Buffalo’s Demske Sports Complex, but BU (2-14, 2-4 America East) ultimately fell by a score of 9-10 to the Golden Griffins (3-14, 2-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). After tumbling to a 5-1 deficit in the first half, the Bearcats came back swinging, registering the first three goals of the second half. Despite coming close several times, Binghamton failed to tie it up, and the Griffins took a 10-6 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining. BU’s late-game, three-goal run was not enough to close the gap, and the squad’s last nonconference game ended in narrow defeat.
“That’s certainly something we’ve been harping on and highlighting as a positive of this team all season,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen. “They fight [until] the end, and in the future we just need to focus on those early possessions and passes so we don’t have to end up having to make up for deficits later.”
Several BU players exhibited that determination, culminating in flurries of comeback goals as the squad clawed back within equalizing range four separate times in the second half. Graduate student attack Emily Yoo registered her first hat trick of the season, raising her season goal total from four to seven.
“I was really excited for [Yoo] and, in her performance today, she read the defense really well and took some well-placed shots when we were in a position where we had to start making up those deficits,” Allen said.
Junior midfielder Amelia Biancardi led the team in scoring attempts with eight shots and converted twice. Sophomore attack Paige Volkmann also scored a pair, while senior midfielders Olivia Batista and Rebecca Golderman netted one apiece. On the defensive end, junior goalie Taylor Passuello kept the Bearcats in the match with 10 saves in the face of a powerful Griffin offense. Canisius’ senior goalie Ellen Newton put forth a standout performance on her team’s Senior Day, racking up 15 saves.
There is significant familiarity between the Binghamton and Canisius coaching staffs, as Canisius head coach Allison Daley served as Binghamton’s assistant coach from 2013-16. Former Binghamton standout attack Brianne Arthur, ‘18, serves as a graduate assistant coach for the Golden Griffins.
The Canisius defeat marks the team’s final nonconference game and penultimate match of the season, as the Bearcats were eliminated from the playoffs on Friday in a tough 20-4 loss to No. 17 Stony Brook. The team struggled with turnovers, ground balls and a sluggish first-half offense, which has been a recurring theme for Binghamton this year. Biancardi was the only Bearcat to find the back of the net in the opening half, with Batista and sophomore midfielder Kelly Quinn rounding out BU’s scorers in the second half. Late in the game, despite the score, Quinn, a native of Setauket, New York, was able to score a satisfying goal late in her homecoming to Long Island. The squad committed 16 turnovers to Stony Brook’s seven, while registering just eight shots to the Seawolves’ 37. They also fell short on draw controls, 16-9 and ground balls, 16-10.
The Bearcats have struggled with possession and generating sufficient, penetrating offense throughout the season. In tandem, these issues have allowed BU to display its tenacity, but is often not enough to overcome early deficits and maintain leads. These shortcomings allowed Canisius to edge the Bearcats out of a tight match and allowed Stony Brook to end their playoff hopes.
“In the final game and moving forward, we need to work on stringing two complete passes together,” Allen said. “It’s the little things, the ground balls and the turnovers, that add up over the course of the game, but mainly we need to focus on solid possession and passing.”
The team will face the University of Vermont in its final game of the season. First draw is set for noon on Saturday, April 27 from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.