STONY BROOK, N.Y. – In its first-ever America East Tournament game, the Binghamton women's lacrosse team (8-9) put up a valiant effort before losing 16-10 to Albany (9-8) in a conference semifinal game on Friday evening at LaValle Stadium. The Bearcats overcame an early-four goal deficit but the Great Danes pulled away with a 9-2 run in the final 24 minutes of regulation.

Three Binghamton players finished with three goals -- senior midfielder Jacqueline Kennedy as well as senior attackers Brianne Arthur and Tiffany Ryan. The Bearcat trio was part of an 11-member senior class taking part in its final collegiate game.
 
After falling behind 4-0 12 minutes into the game, the Bearcats came back to pull to within 6-5 with 2:01 left in the first half. Kennedy had two of her goals during that stretch.
 
The Great Danes scored on a free possession goal by Kyla Zapolski with just 12 seconds left in the first half, padding their lead to 7-5. Binghamton, however, stormed out of the gate in the second half to take an 8-7 lead with 24:40 left in regulation. Kennedy, Arthur and Ryan netted the Bearcat goals during that stretch.
 
From there the Great Danes netted blew the game open with an 8-0 run to take a commanding 15-8 lead with 9:22 left to play. Zapolski, who led all scorers with five goals, and Kendra Harbinger each netted two goals during that stretch.

Binghamton never stopped competing and scored two of the final three goals of the game. Arthur and Ryan completed their hat tricks during that stretch.

The Bearcats finished with a 38-30 shot advantage and a 23-22 edge in shot on goal. Binghamton also had the edge in ground balls (22-16) and draw controls (16-12).
 
Despite the loss, Binghamton's final stretch of the regular season included three straight conference victories. The Bearcats' eight wins and five America East victories were the most in the 16-year history of the program.

"It's been a great season and I could not be more proud of the women on this team," head coach Stephanie Allen said. "We had the most wins in school history and it was our first trip to the conference tournament. We would have liked to have won tonight but as a whole, the season was a success."
 
Instrumental to this season's success were the 11 seniors on the Binghamton squad. Arthur finished her career with 104 goals – including 45 this year. Kennedy, meanwhile, broke the program's all-time record with 77 caused turnovers, including a single-season record 48 this season. Kennedy was named first-team all-conference while Arthur and fellow senior Miriam Ghabarou earned second-team accolades.

"The seniors led by incredible example both on and off the field," Allen said. "This was a special group."