The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team extended its winning streak to four games with a 20-8 victory against UNH on Saturday morning. After the Bearcats came out swinging with four goals in the first five minutes of the game, they did not look back, cruising their way to a 12-goal victory.

“We talked pregame about keeping our playoff hopes alive [and] controlling our own destiny,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “I thought the girls really made a statement, especially on the offensive end today.”

Binghamton [8-6, 3-1 America East (AE)] came out of the gates hot, scoring less than a minute and a half into the game on a free position goal from sophomore midfielder Emma Blloshmi. Binghamton then scored three goals, two of them coming from free positions. Those three goals came from senior attack Madison Murphy, Blloshmi and junior attack Olivia Muscolino. UNH (2-10, 0-4 AE) eventually put up its first goal with 5:49 left. Then, Binghamton added two more goals, to take a 6-1 lead to end the first quarter.

“[Free positions] is something we practice every single day,” Allen said. “Sometimes we’re a little inconsistent in the way the shots fall in games and today I thought we were very locked in and executed well in the free positions.”

The second quarter saw more back and forth between the two teams. The Bearcats started the quarter with a goal from senior midfielder Hayley Weltner, her second goal of the game. Then, the Bearcats and Wildcats went back and forth for a significant portion of the quarter until BU scored five consecutive goals in the last few minutes, which gave the Bearcats a 14-5 lead going into the second half.

The Bearcats continued their run into the third quarter, adding two more goals — courtesy of Muscolino and Murphy. Then, the Wildcats scored two goals, making the score 16-7. The score would remain this way for going into the final quarter.

“We played very well together today,” Allen said. “We have been talking about our systems, our belief in what our units can do when they play together, when they play cohesively and [when they play] in sync.”

The fourth quarter saw the Bearcats continue to dominate, outsccoring the Wildcats 4-1.Those goals came from Blloshmi, Muscolino, freshman midfielder Mia Forte and senior midfielder Kristen Scheidel. Binghamton kept UNH at bay the rest of the way to capture a 20-8 victory over the Wildcats, extending their winning streak to four games. During each of those four games, the Bearcats have held their opponents to less than 10 goals.

“We really looked to limit teams to below 10 goals and have been able to for the last several conference games,” Allen said. “That is something that is a huge feat.”

In addition to the Bearcats’ success on defense, their senior goalie Sofia Salgado garnered a season-high 12 saves in the win. She also had more saves than goals, with her 12 saves compared to eight goals given up.

“[Salgado] was the MVP in my mind,” Allen said. “I thought she kept momentum in our favor.”

With two more games left of AE play, the Bearcats will hit the road to take UMBC on Saturday, April 20. First draw control is set for 3 p.m. at UMBC stadium in Baltimore County, Maryland.