In its final game of the year, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team fell to Albany on senior day, suffering an 18-6 loss. The Great Danes (10-6, 7-2 America East) outscored Binghamton 7-1 to start the game. Senior midfielder Alyssa Sanchez scored the first goal for the Bearcats (3-5, 3-5 AE) and finished with two goals, two caused turnovers and six draw controls.

“[Sanchez] is a kid that has been a staple for our program since the minute she stepped in this program,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “She showed that spark today, she’s the type of kid that is not flashy in what she does but she’s a grinder, and she came out today leaving everything she had in her out on the field.”

Seven players were honored during the Bearcats’ final matchup of the season. Among them were senior attack Paige Volkmann, who had 24 goals this season, and graduate student goalie Taylor Passuello, who had 69 saves in eight games.

“We really thank them for their impact they’ve made on this program, both on and off the field, but there’s going to be some big shoes to fill with losing this class,” Allen said. “More than anything, it’s their commitment to this program and their passion. It’s going to take a while to regain, in terms of players filling that void.”

The Great Danes opened with a 5-1 lead in the first 10 minutes of the match. They continued to press the advantage with a scoring onslaught, going up 9-1 before sophomore attack Kenna Newman tallied Binghamton’s second goal of the day. Following Newman’s goal, Binghamton’s offense was unable to find its rhythm, as Albany continued to outpace the Bearcats in scoring output and widen the lead to 11-4.

With 19 turnovers, the Bearcats had trouble settling into their offense and finding scoring threats with only 12 shots on goal, as opposed to the Great Danes’ 29 shots on goal.

“It’s nothing that we haven’t seen all season, I think we kind of beat ourselves into some offensive scenarios today,” Allen said. “We were not handling the ball well, making smart decisions with the ball. I thought they did a nice job, but more than anything we beat ourselves in not getting aggressive enough to cage and not moving the ball quick enough.”

Albany opened the second half with another five-goal streak before Volkmann found the back of the net halfway into the period. A six-minute scoring drought by both teams followed, as both squads traded shots back and forth and the Great Danes took their foot off the gas pedal for a short amount of time. They added two more goals before freshman midfielder Jesse Barer scored the final goal of the match with three minutes left. She added four draw controls for the Bearcats as well.

On the defensive end, Passuello faced a flurry of shots from the potent Albany attack line, and her 11 saves brought her final career total to 408. Senior defender Sam Fama had two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Albany was led by freshman midfielder Katie Pascale and graduate student attack Madison Conway, who both added six points. Pascale leads the Great Danes in points this season with 60.

This loss is the final match of the Bearcats’ season as the women’s lacrosse squad now heads into the offseason.