VESTAL, N.Y.—The Binghamton women's lacrosse team (4-4) jumped ahead early and held on late to defeat Sacred Heart (3-4) 9-7 today at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
 
"I'm really proud of our players today," remarked head coach Stephanie Allen. "It was a team effort out there, and that was something that we've been stressing since coming off last week's tough loss to Marist. We really worked on changing some things offensively—trying to get more creative out there, working with some different personnel—to give our offensive unit a different look. We're definitely pleased with the effort on both sides of the field."
 
The Bearcats opened with an impressive defensive effort by holding Sacred Heart's high-tempo offense to just one goal in the first half while jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Olivia Batista gave the Bearcats their first goal with 8:57 left in the half. A minute and a half later Rebecca Golderman gave BU a lead they would not relinquish. Allie Rodgers added her first goal of the season, and Jacqueline Kennedy ended the half with Binghamton's fourth goal.
 
Binghamton opened with three of four goals to start the second. Miriam Ghabarou tallied her second of the year 1:48 into the half. After a Sacred Heart goal, Valerie DeNapoli added a pair to stretch the lead to 7-2. The Pioneers battled back to make it 7-6, but Golderman and Sophia Racciatti scored late to preserve the win.
 
DeNapoli added five ground balls to go along with her two goals, while Allie Rodgers had five caused turnovers. Rebecca Golderman's two goals make it 13 in the last six games for the freshman. Emma Jehle was dominating in her one half in net, making two saves and scooping up three ground balls as the Bearcats held the Pioneers to single-digit goals for the first time all season.
 
"Our message today was all encompassing," reflected Allen. "It's got to be seven or eight players down there on the defensive end supporting one another, and offensively the same thing. I think we knew some of their bigger targets out there obviously, and we're trying to keep an extra eye on them, but our defense just focused on unit style and working together well out there, which they did today. We were able to hold them to a single goal in the first half, which was pretty impressive."
 
Up next Binghamton travels to Yorktown, N.Y. on Friday, March 25 for a neutral-site non-conference game against Ohio State.