The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s season came to an end on its Senior Day on Saturday evening with a 19-9 loss to Albany.

In a must-win game to decide the final America East (AE) playoff spot, the Bearcats’ slow start saw them trail the visiting Great Danes 12-3 at halftime. Despite their best efforts, the Bearcats were unable to complete a comeback, narrowly missing the playoffs.

“We’ve got a group that never gives up, and even at the timeouts there in the fourth quarter, [there was] a look of hope in their eyes and resiliency,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “They weren’t going to just sit back on their heels and take the loss easily. So something I applaud them for, just their never-give-up mentality, their resiliency.”

The Great Danes (7-9, 4-2 AE) opened play with back-to-back goals to take an early 2-0 lead. However, Binghamton (5-10, 2-4 AE) soon responded when senior attack Marisa Tancredi found senior attack Olivia Muscolino for a score. Albany responded forcefully, scoring four unanswered goals to take a 6-1 lead. The Bearcats struggled throughout the first quarter as they were outshot 14-4, conceding five turnovers.

“Obviously, the empty possessions hurt us,” Allen said. “Turnovers and maybe just not generating enough shots or playing with urgency [also hurt]. I think we seemed a little disjointed and weren’t playing connected in that first half.”

The second period of play continued with more of the same for the Bearcats, as four consecutive scores from the Great Danes saw BU face a 10-1 deficit at 11:49. The Bearcats were able to slow down play and end Albany’s run when junior attack Emma Blloshmi converted a free-position opportunity.

Soon after, senior midfielder Abigail Carroll found twine to make it a 10-3 game. Albany continued to attack BU’s net, scoring twice in the final 1:35 to take a commanding 12-3 lead as the foes entered halftime.

The Bearcats’ offense continued to show signs of life, with Carroll scoring her second goal of the day early in the third quarter. A free-position goal from junior attack Jess Robinson soon after brought the score to 12-5 at the first media timeout of the second half. The Great Danes assuaged fears of a comeback with two scores as the clock ran out, but the Bearcats outshot the visitors 10-9 while winning the draw control battle 4-1 in the third period.

“Just an adjustment of what our draw taker was doing out there, trying to position our circle players a little differently to put us in a better position,” Allen said about BU’s successes on second-half draw controls. “I thought [the] kind of mentality of our draw takers is — they start getting on a run of possessions and give them something to adjust to. And I thought [junior defense] Mckenna Kobler did a very good job of that today.”

Binghamton’s hopes were reignited when Blloshmi scored on BU’s first possession of the final quarter, but Albany responded with two scores of its own to make it 16-6. Binghamton then scored twice within 27 seconds, but another goal from Albany made it a 17-8 game. A free-position score courtesy of Carroll was Binghamton’s last score of the season, as Albany then scored twice to secure its 19-9 victory.

“Big shoes to fill,” Allen said. “[Our seniors are] a group that’s incredibly passionate about the game of lacrosse and playing for and alongside their teammates. So certainly going to miss them, but they’ve left a legacy of competitiveness and a winning mindset that everyone can hope to live up to.”

The 19-9 loss brought the Bearcats’ season to an end as they missed the AE playoffs following their first-ever AE title last season. Despite the early end to their campaign, several Bearcats had record-breaking seasons.

Muscolino’s 32-goal and 18-assist 2024-25 season brought her historic Binghamton career to a close as Binghamton’s all-time points and goals leader, with 209 points and 148 goals. Senior defense Angelina Suau finished her Binghamton career as BU’s all-time leader in caused turnovers with 87. In her second season as a Bearcat, Blloshmi finished first in NCAA Division I with 2.07 free-position goals per game and first in the AE with 3.93 goals per game.