For the seniors on the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team, Sunday’s win was one worth remembering.

On Senior Day, the Bearcats (7-9, 1-4 America East) recorded a milestone win. Defeating UMBC, 8-7, in front of its home crowd, the team captured its first conference victory of the season. The win also marked the first for Binghamton out of its 11 total meetings with the Retrievers (7-9, 1-4 AE), as well as a program record for overall wins (7) and home wins (5) in a single season.

Behind methodical and precise offensive play, Binghamton built a 6-1 lead by halftime. The long possessions led to an efficient offensive attack against the Retrievers’ defense.

Binghamton scored on six of its 11 shots in the half and committed just two turnovers.

“We talked about being deliberate with our ball movement on the offensive end,” BU head coach Stephanie Allen said. “We thought it would come down to execution on both attacking units. We made sure to get quality looks on cage and not just force things.”

Come the second half, UMBC embarked upon a streak of its own, netting three goals in two minutes. But Binghamton answered quickly and scored two of its own, expanding the margin to 8-4 with 20:15 remaining.

From there, the Bearcats’ offense dwindled alongside the clock. They committed several sloppy turnovers that led to scoring opportunities the other way. The Bearcats’ defense, however, held on despite a late scare and a second half that featured 13 turnovers.

“We are still trying to teach these girls how to win,” Allen said. “It came down to composure and fighting until the last second. We are still working to put together two equally strong halves, but today it was all about fighting until the last minute and continuing to move this program forward.”

The win marks yet another one-goal contest for Binghamton, which has gone 3-0 this season in games decided by one score.

Though junior midfielder Renee Kiviat led BU with a game-high three goals, the Bearcats featured five contributors to the net, displaying a balanced offense. Freshman midfielder Jocelyn Penteck followed Kiviat’s hat-trick with two goals, and sophomore attack Sophia Racciatti, junior attack Alex Fisher and senior attack Angela Vespa all added a tally to the effort.

Junior Kara Pafumi did not disappoint in her final game in net. Late in the game, she came up with three critical saves to secure the victory.

“[Pafumi] did an excellent job for us today,” Allen said. “She knew she had nothing to lose. It was her final stamp on this program.”

Even a bit of luck factored into the decision. Four UMBC shots hit the crossbar — had any gone in, the Bearcats may have ended singing a different tune.

And now Allen, with a record-breaking season under her belt, is closer to reaching her goal of advancing the program.

“We talked about all season making a change,” Allen said. “And today our focus was leaving this program in a better place than we found it, both for our seniors and for the girls who are returning next year. We had seven wins this season, but it’s more about moving forward and taking baby steps.”

Though the team did not achieve its goal of reaching the conference tournament, Sunday’s win should set the tone for the program through the long off-season. Though it will lose senior defender Erica Foley, Pafumi and Vespa to graduation, the Bearcats roster will feature 10 newcomers in the 2015 season, as the team looks to take another step forward.