The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team continued its winning streak this past Saturday, overtaking Mount St. Mary’s to secure its third consecutive game, with a 13-6 victory.
BU (5-6, 1-0 America East) opened the game strong with a goal less than three minutes into the first period, courtesy of sophomore midfielder Olivia Batista, assisted by sophomore midfielder Rebecca Golderman. The Mount (1-7) responded with a goal of its own, but Batista fired back with two consecutive goals to extend the Bearcats’ advantage to two.
At the midway point in the first half, both squads took turns scoring. Freshman attack Kate Kinsella got on the board for the Mount only to be answered by Binghamton redshirt junior midfielder Jocelyn Penteck’s goal. After Kinsella recorded her second score minutes later, BU answered back with a goal from Golderman.
Binghamton seized the momentum heading into halftime as junior midfielder Stefanie Frolo scored with one second left on the clock, bringing the score to 6-4 at the break.
The Bearcats came out of the gate even more determined in the second half. In the first eight minutes of play, BU put three more points on the board, courtesy of senior midfielder Valerie DeNapoli, who scored twice, and sophomore attack Emily Yoo.
Mount St. Mary’s tried to come back, scoring a goal after Binghamton’s three-goal streak, but its attempts proved futile. The Bearcats countered with a four-goal run, three of which were tallied by Penteck and one by Batista. This put both Penteck and Batista each at an impressive four-goal game total.
Mount St. Mary’s cashed in on one more goal before the end of play, but the Bearcats proved too much to overcome.
“I thought we had a good answer to some of their offensive movement,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen. “When we came out after halftime, our girls did a really good job of shutting them down in the second half and limiting their touches on the ball.”
Crucial to Saturday’s success was junior defender Miriam Ghabarou, who caused a career-high four turnovers, logged three draw controls and posted two ground balls.
“I thought Miriam Ghabarou on the defense event had an outstanding day,” Allen said. “[She is] somebody who helped us get some extra concessions out there and create some new opportunities for our offense. That really fueled our second half.”
The Bearcats are set to return to play on Tuesday against Cornell for their final nonconference game of the season. The matchup is set to start at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York.