In the mid of a two-game losing streak, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s skid extended to three games with a 15-7 loss against Cornell at home. The Bearcats trailed early on as the Big Red jumped out to a quick lead with two goals in the first two minutes. The visitors retained this lead the rest of the way to come out on top against BU.

“I thought today we certainly took a little more time off the clock, but we were being more conservative and more strategic with our clear patterns [and] clear strategy,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “It was a little bit of an issue for us in our game versus Niagara over the weekend.”

The contest started with Cornell (5-1) winning the first draw control and quickly scoring back-to-back goals in the first two minutes. Binghamton (4-5) responded when a turnover from Cornell resulted in BU succeeding in clearing the ball and transitioning into its offensive end. Junior attack Olivia Muscolino found the back of the net to give the Bearcats their lone score of the quarter. Meanwhile, the Big Red netted three more goals to take a 5-1 after the first quarter.

“I thought we did a much better job of being patient,” Allen said. “We maintained and had a successful clear percentage today.”

In the second quarter, Cornell picked up where it left off, controlling the first draw control resulting in the Big Red scoring their sixth goal only a minute into the period. Facing a 6-1 deficit, a successful clear attempt by the Bearcats helped them get back on the board as senior midfielder Kristen Scheidel capitalized, scoring BU’s second and only goal in the period. In the remainder of the quarter, the Big Red scored two more goals to take an 8-2 lead going into halftime.

“I think we had to have the will to win out there,” Allen said. “[We can] not be afraid to have those extra possessions offensively and take quality looks. We didn’t have enough shot production in the first half, and that was one of the things we stressed going into the third quarter.”

The Big Red kept the ball rolling to start the third quarter, finding the back of the net after winning the first draw control of the second half for their ninth goal of the game. The Bearcats’ offense came back with back-to-back scores, courtesy of Muscolino and senior attack Madison Murphy to make it 9-4. After both teams traded scores, Cornell strung together a three-goal run to close the quarter, ending the third quarter up 13-5.

“I think you know we hit a few too many pipes today and just had some missed opportunities,” Allen said. ”But we certainly got an increase of shot production in the second half.”

Two goals from Cornell in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter made it a double-digit game at 15-5. Not long after, back-to-back BU goals, courtesy of sophomore attack Carla Curth and Muscolino, who secured her third hat trick of the year, cut the Big Red lead to 15-7. The final 9:06 of the game remained scoreless as Cornell maintained its advantage to deliver the Bearcats’ fifth loss of the year.

“I think we finished much better than we started today,” Allen said. “We had to make some adjustments. We’ve got some personnel that was not in the mix for us today, and so some players playing out of position. I thought over the course of the game they made some good adjustments, but we’ve got to make them a little bit quicker and, you know, recognize things a little bit earlier in competition, so it doesn’t become repeated mistakes.”

The Bearcats will hit the road to open America East (AE) play as it takes on Albany on Saturday, March 16. First draw control is set for 2 p.m. at the John Fallon Field in Albany, New York.