Contact: Dave Van Gorder (dvangord@binghamton.edu)

OLEAN, N.Y.—The Binghamton women's lacrosse team (6-7, 1-3 America East) fell behind early, but battled back to defeat St. Bonaventure on the road today by a score of 18-13.

"We had a bit of a slow start that may be because of the extended warmup, but we came out with a strong second half that was a spark for us," stated head coach Stephanie Allen. "We changed some things up with the defensive unit and it was nice to see them find success out there. I thought Valerie DeNapoli played a really complete game for us. She played with a lot of hustle and was excellent between the 70's with ground balls (3) and draw controls (4)."

The game was originally slated for a 3 p.m. start, but ended up getting pushed back a half hour because of a miscommunication. The Bonnies (1-11, 0-3 Atlantic 10) opened the game by scoring five of the first seven goals to lead 5-2 with 15 minutes remaining in the first. From that point forward the Bearcats took over: scoring five of seven to close out the half tied at seven.

Callon Williams helped get things started by scoring BU's third (and her third) goal of the game with 13 minutes remaining in the half. Brianne Arthur made it a one-goal game and—after a Bonnies goal—Miriam Ghabarou did the same. Tiffany Ryan tied it up with her first goal of the game, and then gave Binghamton the lead with her second with 2:24 left in the half.

The Bonnies would tie the game with less than two minutes in the half, but the Bearcats weren't fazed heading into the half.

"We had to make a few obvious adjustments on both ends and in the draw control area," admitted Allen. "Mostly we just focused on not beating ourselves out there. We didn't want to be playing catch up, we wanted to take the opportunity to play together as a team without regrets. It was about coming out and playing fearless, and with a lot of heart."

Binghamton used a 5-0 stretch at the start of the second half to take back the momentum.

Renee Kiviat opened things up with her first goal of the game, and Sophia Racciatti followed suit by adding her first. Then Brianne Arthur scored, followed by Tiffany Ryan, followed again by Arthur. The five consecutive goals made it 12-7 in favor of the Bearcats with 21:19 remaining in the game.

"It was really important that we played well during that point in the game," reflected Allen. "The value that we took with our opportunities at the end of the first half and start of the second was pretty key to our victory today. We were getting better good looks on cage out there and it was because we were taking a better value in those opportunities."

After a Bonaventure goal, Binghamton would extend the lead, scoring 5 of the next 6 goals.

First Kiviat added her second, and then Valerie DeNapoli tallied her first of the game. After another Bonnies goal, the Bearcats strung together three more: Brianna Russo, Sophia Racciatti, and Tiffany Ryan.

For Ryan, the four goals for her was a career high. The freshman has five multi-goal games this season, and has six goals in the last two games.

"She's been very consistent along the way for us," remarked Allen. "She's a player that just shows up and plays—it doesn't matter how tough of an opponent we're facing. She puts herself in great positions off the ball to put the ball in the net. I'm looking forward to seeing what she can accomplish with her time here."

Brianna Russo closed out the game by scoring with 13 seconds left, making it her first career multi-goal game. She was joined by Ryan (4), Arthur (3), Williams (3), Kiviat (2), and Raccaitti (2) to give the Bearcats six players with multiple goals.

Erin McNulty made twelve saves in net and scooped up four ground balls to pick up her sixth win of the season, breaking the program record for wins in a season that she had set the year before.

"We're really proud of what she's doing out there," praised Allen. "Today when we need a spark she was there to come up with some big stops and pick up some ground balls. She also helped in the clearing attempts and was a big part of those great runs that we had. We just keep encouraging her that she can play against everyone out there."

Binghamton returns to action this Friday when they resume America East play at New Hampshire.