The Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team traveled to the University of Connecticut on Friday for its second straight road game to open up the 2011 season. The Bearcats faced off against the Huskies for their second game of the 2010 season as well, losing a close game by a score of 16-12. The result this time around was similar for Binghamton, as it lost a close game to the University of Connecticut by a score of 11-9.

The entire game was a roller coaster ride for BU, which started and ended the game rather strong but stumbled throughout the middle part. Sophomore Kimberly McGeever scored the first goal of the game after receiving a pass from junior Lis Zuern and putting the ball in the back of the net about four minutes into the game. Binghamton jumped out to a 3-1 lead after 12 minutes of play on the strength of two unassisted goals from senior Beth Moore and Zuern. However, the Huskies rallied back quickly, scoring five unanswered goals to take the lead going into halftime by a score of 6-3.

After 14 minutes had elapsed in the second half, the Huskies scored their 10th goal of the game and led the Bearcats, 10-5. However, in the last 15 minutes of the game, the Bearcats outscored UConn 4-1, putting together a late rally that fell just short. M.E. Lapham of the Huskies stymied the rally by netting her fifth goal of the game with 13 minutes left to put UConn up by four and give the team a vice-grip on the lead.

“After having a week to prepare, I really feel like we played better on both offense and defense,” Binghamton head coach Tony Zostant said of his team’s performance. “We kept competing throughout the game and we didn’t give up.”

The Bearcats had multiple standouts during the game, including Moore, who led the team with three goals on the game. Lis Zuern had another solid outing overall this week, leading Binghamton in points with two goals and two assists.

Senior goalkeeper Lauren Scott had a good game for the Bearcats as well, recording 14 saves after facing 28 shots overall. Scott is coming off a solid game against Louisville the previous week, where she had 17 saves on the game.

“Lauren Scott was the brightest spot for us in the game against UConn,” Zostant said. “She had a really great save percentage, especially in the first half, and that really helped us stay in the game.”

Their inability to pull off successful clears really put the Bearcats into a hole against the Huskies. Although Binghamton kept close to the Huskies when it came to turnovers and were able to pick up 15 ground balls to Connecticut’s nine, they were 1-5 on clear-out attempts in the second half alone.

“Turnovers were still a problem for us overall,” Zostant said. “We had 12 turnovers in the first 10 minutes, which was mainly due to the zone defense that they employed. We only scored three goals in the first half off of eight shots because we were never able to get the ball up the field.”

Next week, the Bearcats are set to take on Marist, a team that they have some experience with. Binghamton lost a heartbreaker on the road in overtime against the Red Foxes last season by a score of 12-11, and Zostant feels like his team can turn the tables on Marist this time around.

“We’re really excited for our first home game,” Zostant said. “We have to play a full 60 minutes against Marist and there is certainly a revenge factor involved. The team remembers last year’s loss and we want to take care of business this time around. We need to play this game as if it was UConn coming to town and not Marist, and that’s how we’ll prepare.”

Binghamton is scheduled to host Marist in its home opener at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.