Box Score Contact:
Terrence Lollie (tlollie@binghamton.edu)
EASTON, Pa. – The Binghamton women's lacrosse team dropped its first game of the season at Lafayette 12-6, Saturday afternoon at Rappolt Field. The Bearcats (2-1), who are off to their best start in program history, were derailed by a devastating 9-0 second half run by the Leopards (3-2). The contest marked the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Five different Binghamton players recorded goals on the day highlighted by freshman
Liz Hoeffner, who netted a pair of goals to lead the Bearcats. Joining Hoeffner in the scoring column were senior
Angela Vespa, juniors
Alex Fisher and
Renee Kiviat and freshman
Callon Williams. Sophomore goalie
Erin McNulty made a career-best 12 saves in her first loss of the season.
Binghamton controlled most of the first half thanks to a 4-0 run that spanned over 16 minutes of play. Fisher, Kiviat, Hoeffner and Williams all scored during the spurt. The Bearcats led 4-1 with less than three minutes to play in the first half, but two late Lafayette goals pulled the Patriot League members within one at the break.
Vespa netted her fifth goal of the season to hand Binghamton a two goal advantage almost four minutes into the second half. However, it was all Lafayette from there as the Leopards would embark on the 9-0 run that opened a 12-5 lead with just 2:48 left in the contest. Lafayette was dominant in the draw circle capturing nine of the 12 second half draw controls. The Leopards limited Binghamton to just three second-half shots thanks to their success in the draw circle.
The Bearcats were 4-for-4 in free position attempts and forced 10 Lafayette turnovers. Binghamton grabbed seven ground balls and was 11-for-12 in clears attempts.
Binghamton returns home after two straight road contests for a three-game homestand. The Bearcats host Niagara on Thursday, March 6 before welcoming St. Bonaventure to the Bearcats Sports Complex for the first time since 2009 on Saturday, March 8. Binghamton concludes its homestand against Cornell on Wednesday, March 12.
