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The Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team could almost see the possibility of making the postseason for the first time in the history of the program. The only thing it had to do was beat UMBC, who held a 2-3 conference record and already clinched a playoff spot, to take a respectable fourth seed.

After beating Stony Brook last week for their first conference win in six years, the Bearcats were up for the challenge. Despite a strong first half for the Bearcats, UMBC rallied to beat Binghamton 19-9, ending the Bearcats’ playoff hopes.

The Bearcats hit the ground running with good defense, proficient offense and physical play. After the first five minutes of the half went scoreless, Binghamton broke through the UMBC defense to strike twice in less than 30 seconds. The Bearcats were strong defensively with goalkeeper Emily Miller denying any shots the Retrievers slashed her way. The Bearcats took advantage of UMBC’s seven turnovers and pushed the ball in Retrievers territory. With 15 minutes left in the half, the Bearcats had held UMBC scoreless while managing to put up five goals of their own.

‘First 10 minutes, we wanted to play hard and stick with the game plan,’ Binghamton head coach Tony Zostant said.

Three minutes later, that all changed; UMBC went on a 4-0 streak, cutting Binghamton’s five-goal lead to just one. Influencing the turnaround were 13 fouls committed by the Bearcats in the first half. With five minutes left in the half, the Bearcats offense came alive once again with a goal by junior Ali Castiglie. Fellow Junior Beth Moore helped secure the lead by adding a goal of her own a minute later to make the score 7-4. However, with eight seconds remaining UMBC took the ball down the field to narrow the lead to two at the buzzer, shocking the Bearcats.

‘We allowed them to get a fast break, and they took advantage of it,’ Zostant said. ‘They are a good team and we knew this coming into the game.’

Binghamton managed to outshoot UMBC 14-12 while winning nine of the 13 draws in the first half.

The second half proved to be a completely different game for the Bearcats. The Retrievers wasted no time, carrying the momentum from the first half and scoring two goals in the first five minutes of the half, tying the game 7-7. But UMBC didn’t stop there, as it would go on to take the lead and score four more unanswered goals before freshman Kristen Stone stopped the bleeding and cut the Retrievers lead to three. But it would be too little, too late for the Bearcats as the Retrievers went up 18-8 with 6:25 left in the game. Each team went on to score a goal apiece to make the final score 19-9. UMBC dominated the field, outscoring Binghamton 14-2 in the second half and outshooting them 18-7.

‘What led to our downfall in the second half was our draw control. We have been struggling all year with it,’ Zostant said.

Captain Beth Moore had three goals with Ali Castiglie adding two of her own. Rounding off the junior squad was Lizzie Wright, who scored once. Freshmen Kristen Stone and Kimberly McGeever, and sophomore Allie Sabitus all had a goal apiece.

The game marked the last for senior Erika Travis, who is one of the three captains, and she was honored before the game. She appeared in 61 career games, fourth-most in program history. She is set to graduate with a degree in human development and plans to head to graduate school next year.

On Friday, Castiglie was chosen America East Fan Choice Player of the Year. She received 24 percent of all votes, beating out Albany’s Nikki Branchini and Boston’s McKinley Curro.

The Bearcats finished the season with a 2-13 record, including a 1-5 conference record.