After losing 12-11 in overtime to Coastal Carolina, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s dropped its second straight match, falling to Niagara 12-5 at home. The Purple Eagles jumped out to an early lead 2-0 at the end of the first quarter, and they maintained that lead the rest of the way as the Bearcats’ offense struggled to find the back of the net, scoring just two goals in the second half.

“I was happy to see our team cause 12 turnovers today collectively from our ride and our defensive unit,” wrote Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “We battled hard for ground balls and won the little battles — which is one thing you always want to see from your team. We did not execute offensively today and that really impacted the game.”

Just a minute into the match, Niagara (5-1) won the draw control and scored the first goal of the game to take a 1-0 lead over BU (4-4). The Bearcats first opportunities came when Junior midfielder Abigail Carroll and senior midfielder Hayley Weltner got back-to-back free position shots. However, the Bearcats were unable to capitalize. Neither team scored for the rest of the quarter as BU trailed 2-0 at the end of the first quarter.

“Execution on the offensive end and decision-making across the entire team is focused moving forward,” Allen wrote. “We need highly quality shots and better clock management offensively.”

Niagara scored back-to-back goals to open the second quarter to make it a 4-0 game. After 10 shot attempts, Binghamton finally got on the board, courtesy of junior attack Olivia Muscolino. The Purple Eagles continued to put pressure on the Bearcats’ defense, responding with two more goals to make it a 6-1 game. Things continued to go back and forth as Weltner capitalized on a free position shot, bringing the score to 6-2. Each team recorded one more goal as the scoreboard read 7-3 in favor of Niagara going into halftime.

“I thought [senior midfielder Kristen Scheidel] and [senior midfielder Emma Conroy] both came up with some critical plays for us today,” Allen wrote. “Whether it was draw controls or caused turnovers. They worked hard to provide a spark, and I was proud of the extra effort from both of them.”

Nearly seven minutes into the second half, Purple Eagles got on the board first. However, Binghamton won the next draw and senior attack Madison Murphy got the ball past the goalie with a bounce shot to cut the Niagara lead to 8-4. In the final 5:26 of the period, Niagara scored two more goals, leading 10-4 at the end of three.

“Our offense just needs to adjust quicker with shooting selection and placement,” Allen wrote.

To open the final quarter, Binghamton got off two attempts on goal but both were unsuccessful. Then, after a drop and feed, Niagara scored their 11th goal of the game. Eight minutes later, the Purple Eagles added another goal to their total to make it a 12-4 game. With 2:11 remaining, Muscolino scored BU’s fifth and final goal of the day after converting on a free position opportunity. However, the Bearcats deficit was too significant to overcome as they fell 12-5.

“We need to have more mental discipline and focus all around,” Allen wrote. “Choice-making is the most important part of the game, and we were not dialed in today with clearing or offensive execution.”

The Bearcats will take on in-state rivals Cornell this Tuesday, March 12. First draw control is set for 4 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.