The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team won its first match of America East play in a thrilling 12-11 overtime victory over UNH. The Wildcats utilized a 5-0 run to take a two-score lead from the second to the third quarter, but the Bearcats responded with a three-goal run of their own before closing out the match with consecutive scores to claim the overtime win.

“Just really proud of our team for persevering and getting an overtime win, which is always a little bit more challenging than a regular regulation win out there,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “Proud of some players stepping up today.”

After UNH (4-6, 0-2 AE) turned it over on its first possession, the Bearcats (4-6, 1-1 AE) took advantage of a free position attempt from the eight-meter, where sophomore midfielder Brooke Bort put Binghamton on the board. Following a Wildcat goal to even the score, Binghamton got back ahead with a strike from senior attack Carla Curth.

Soon after, in a woman-up position, senior attack Jess Robinson found freshman midfielder Sabrina Boyle to put the Bearcats ahead 3-1. Although UNH found a response on the following possession, Binghamton struck last in the quarter with a deep shot from Curth to give the Bearcats a 4-2 advantage.

“We had to create extra opportunities for ourselves somewhere,” Allen said. “And so I thought how we were able to create those on the defensive end and in the ride were pretty critical for us today.”

UNH scored first in the second quarter, but Curth secured a hat-trick soon after to keep Binghamton ahead. Although the Wildcats got back within a score on the following possession, goals from Boyle and Curth extended the Bearcats’ lead to 7-4. After UNH scored a pair of goals to make the score 7-6, a goal from sophomore attack Leah Kaufer was called back for an illegal stick and the final score of the quarter came from the Wildcats as the foes headed into the half deadlocked at 7-7.

UNH continued its run into the second half, scoring twice to take a 9-7 lead. Senior attack Emma Blloshmi got Binghamton back on the board with her lone score of the night and Bort scored soon after to even the score at 9-9. Continuing the Bearcat run, Kaufer drove in towards the net and buried the ball behind the Wildcats’ goalie, giving Binghamton a 10-9 lead. However, the final score of the quarter came from UNH and the match was tied once more.

“We knew that we needed to kind of even out the scoreboard there as we headed into the fourth and I’m just proud of what we were able to do today, to put ourselves in a position to win at the end,” Allen said.

The fourth quarter opened with nearly 10 minutes of scoreless play, but UNH struck first to take an 11-10 lead. The Bearcats did not go down without a fight, however, as junior midfielder Mia Forte scored on a free-position attempt on the following possession, forcing overtime.

Binghamton won the opening draw-control in overtime and they were soon awarded a free-position attempt. After the shot from Curth bounced off of UNH’s goalie’s stick, Forte bounced the rebound into the net to give the Bearcats a 12-11 win.

“It was just a whole team effort,” said Forte. “I’m so happy that we were able to come out on top, because we’ve been harping on it all season to just put in extra effort in those extra moments.”

The Bearcats will next take on Albany on Saturday, March 28. Draw control is set for noon at the John Fallon Field in Albany, New York.