On Saturday, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s losing streak was extended to four games with a 15-13 loss to UAlbany in its America East (AE) conference opener. After a back and forth game that was tied at 6-6 at halftime, the Great Danes pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Bearcats 4-2 in the third quarter to deliver BU a narrow loss.

“The loss to UAlbany was a tough one, but our team showed a lot of promise and fought until the end,” wrote Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen.

In the first quarter, nearly two minutes in, UAlbany (2-6, 1-0 AE) scored to get on the board first. Senior midfielder Kristen Scheidel responded by netting BU’s (4-6, 0-1 AE) lone goal of the quarter, tying the game at one. At the 8:50 mark in the first period, the Great Danes netted another goal to regain the lead. Neither team would score for the rest of the quarter as BU trailed 2-1 at the end of one.

“Any defensive stop is an added opportunity on the offensive end,” Allen wrote. “We had an outstanding defensive performance and some players taking on new roles for us Saturday. They all stepped up to the challenge.”

During the second quarter, the Great Danes quickly increased their lead after scoring two goals in the first six minutes to take a 4-1 lead. BU answered with five straight goals of their own, including two from Scheidel and one from sophomore attack Carla Curth, senior attack Madison Murphy and senior midfielder Hayley Weltner to take the lead at 6-4. In the remaining 11 seconds, the Great Danes scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at six going into halftime.

“We spoke at our last timeout in the second quarter about where we needed to be on the scoreboard heading into halftime,” Allen wrote. “Our team exceeded that and gave us a lot of momentum moving into the second half.”

The tie was broken in the third quarter after the Great Danes scored three straight goals to regain the lead at 9-6. Soon after, the Bearcats gained some momentum as sophomore midfielder Emma Blloshmi and junior attack Olivia Muscolino each found twine goals to cut UAlbany’s lead to one at 9-8. With 31 seconds left, the Great Danes scored once more to take a two goal lead into the fourth quarter.

“[Muscolino], [Murphy] and [Scheidel] all played at an elite level yesterday,” Allen wrote. “They kept us in the game, but more importantly, they were incredible leaders out on the field.”

UAlbany scored twice to take a 12-8 lead with 12:52 remaining in the quarter. The Bearcats’ offense strung together some momentum, going on a three goal run to make it a one goal game, courtesy of two scores by Muscolino and one by Blloshmi. Then, after both teams traded scores, the scoreboard read 13-12. With two minutes left, the Great Danes pulled way with two goals to take a 15-12 advantage. Despite Murphy scoring to make it a two goal game with 21 seconds left, it was not enough as BU dropped the match 15-13.

“We have a lot to hang our hat on from our UAlbany game,” Allen wrote. “We are looking forward to some rest this week and building off of many positives from our game against UAlbany.”

The Bearcats will return home to continue AE conference play against UMass Lowell on Saturday, March 23. First draw control is set for 1 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.