The search for conference win No. 1 continued for the Binghamton University women’s lacrosse team over spring break as the squad dropped back-to-back games to University at Albany and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The Bearcats were routed by Albany 10-3 last Wednesday before falling by a single goal to UMBC on Saturday. BU (3-8, 0-3 America East) is now in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

Junior Kristen Stone netted her 17th goal of the season to tie the match at Albany in the first five minutes. But from that point on, Albany then took off on a 4-0 run and garnered a 5-1 lead. BU would tally two more goals in the half from junior Kimberly McGeever and Stone, who scored with seven seconds left in the half, and Albany would go into halftime up 8-3.

In the second half, defense on both sides slowed down possessions and maintained position in front of the net. Albany’s defensive effort shut out Binghamton for the entirety of the second half while the Great Danes padded their lead with two more goals to put the game out of reach.

Binghamton was outshot 32-15 in the match and managed just three shots in the second half. The Great Danes also forced 17 Binghamton turnovers and committed just eight of their own. Albany’s superior defensive effort also translated into gaining control of more ground balls as it held a 28-6 advantage over Binghamton in the category.

In Saturday’s match against UMBC, Binghamton got on the board first as senior Lis Zuern scored her team-leading 24th goal of the season. From that point on, UMBC went on a 7-2 run and entered halftime leading the Bearcats 7-5.

With 16 minutes left in the game, McGeever netted a goal to knot the game at eight before Stone’s second goal of the game gave Binghamton the lead with nine minutes to go.

But UMBC junior Alicia Krause responded roughly 10 minutes later to tie things up at nine, and only 10 seconds later, after winning the draw control, UMBC sophomore Emily Coady scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal as Binghamton proved unable to score in the final five minutes due to multiple turnovers, ending the game with 19.

Draw controls, a point of emphasis in practice in the past for BU head coach Tony Zostant, were in Binghamton’s favor 11-10. Ground balls, which plagued Binghamton’s offensive effort in the game against Albany, were in favor of UMBC, 14-13.

A positive note for Binghamton remains the distribution of goal scoring for the Bearcats, as five different players scored for BU. McGeever, Stone, junior Katherine Hunsberger and freshman Emma Hayes-Hurley each had two goals, while Zuern tallied one goal for Binghamton.

The Bearcats are scheduled to return to play a non-conference match against Bucknell University at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Bearcats Sports Complex.