VESTAL, NY (BUBearcats.com) – The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team (10-6, 5-1) claimed a share of the America East regular season title for the first time in program history with a 20-8 Senior Day win over Bryant (9-6, 3-3) Saturday afternoon at the Bearcat Sports Complex.
“This is a special group doing special things right now,” said Head Coach Stephanie Allen. “We are very proud of the win today, but more importantly the work they have put in through conference play.”
“We want to thank the senior class for being such an incredible group of leaders and for helping build the competitive culture and mindset that our team possesses. This senior group has made an impact that will last well beyond this year,” Allen added.
The victory solidified the No. 2 seed for BU in next weekend’s conference championship. Defending champion UAlbany (7-9, 5-1) secured the top seed after defeating the Bearcats by just two goals during the regular season, 15-13. UMBC (9-5, 4-2) took the No. 3 seed while UMass Lowell (12-5, 3-3) grabbed the No. 4 slot.
Binghamton earned its sixth straight victory and fifth 20 or more goal game of the season with this afternoon’s rout of Bryant. BU dominated the game’s offense with a 20-12 advantage in the draw circle and a 30-19 shots on goal lead. The Bearcats also converted on four of eight free position shots.
Olivia Muscolino led Binghamton with a career-high nine points on four goals and five assists. Carla Curth followed with his own career-best seven points on three goals and four assists. The career highs didn’t stop there as Gabriella Meli earned a personal-best four points on three goals and one assist.
Madison Murphy registered her fourth straight and ninth hat-trick this season with four points on three goals and one assist. Emma Bloshmi chipped in her own hat-trick, her fourth this spring. Kristen Scheidel also notched two points on one goal and one assist, along with a career-high nine draw controls.
Sofia Salgado posted 11 saves in goal, his sixth double-digit performance of the season.
Bryant opened up game scoring with an unassisted goal three minutes into the first quarter before the Bearcats responded with three consecutive scores to go up 3-1. The Bulldogs grabbed one more goal while Muscolino and Blloshmi found netting to lead 5-2 after the first 15.
Both teams traded goals to start the second quarter until Curth and Scheidel went back-to-back to increase BU’s advantage to four at 8-4. Bryant’s Amelia Piercy nets the Bulldogs fifth goal of the game in the final seconds of the second stanza to make the score 8-5 heading into halftime.
Binghamton came out of the break hot with four straight goals, including two back-to-back free position scores from Meli, to lead 12-5. Bryant notched another goal with 9:06 left in the third before the Bearcats went on another offensive streak with five consecutive goals to finish out the third frame.
Up 17-6, BU extended its scoring streak to seven with two free-position goals from Hayley Weltner and Emma Conroy to start the fourth quarter. Both Binghamton and Bryant went back and forth for the remainder of regulation to give the Bearcats the 20-8 victory.
Next up, No. 2 Binghamton will face No. 3 UMBC in the America East Tournament Semifinals, Friday, March 3, at UAlbany’s John Fallon Field. Start time is scheduled for 4 pm on ESPN+.
The semifinal winners will face off for the 2024 America East Championship on Sunday at 10 am The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN+.
