The Binghamton University women's lacrosse team opened the 2021 season with an 11-8 victory over UMass Lowell Saturday afternoon in Vestal. The Bearcats were led by freshman Madison Murphy's three goals in her collegiate debut, and a defense that did not surrender a goal in the final 12 minutes of action.

"I saw a lot of resiliency out there today," head coach Stephanie Allen said. "It took awhile to find our groove offensively, but I'm proud of how we dug deep and came out with a complete team win."

The Bearcats surrendered the first goal of the game, but commanded the draw over the middle stages of the first half which led to four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 advantage early. Murphy came out firing, netting the first three goals of the season for BU.

A goal by junior attacker Emily Masera created a 5-2 lead for the Bearcats, but the River Hawks ended the first half with two unanswered goals to trim it to 5-4 at the break.

The second half saw the game tighten early on. With the score tied at six, Rebecca Korn was able to net back-to-back goals to give Binghamton some much needed breathing room. Despite another goal by the River Hawks to make it 8-7, that was as close as the visitors would get to a lead.

BU's veterans stepped up in the latter stages of the contest, as senior attacker Paige Volkmann added two goals and fifth-year goalie Taylor Passuello made several key saves en route to the 11-8 win.

Murphy led the way for the Bearcats with three goals while Masera, Korn and Volkmann added two apiece. Jamie Golderman and Kelly Quinn each scored a goal and Sofia Afkham had eight draw controls.

Defensively, Passuello made nine saves, while Brianna Distler picked up three ground balls.

The Bearcats will now hit the road for a matchup with Albany on Saturday, March 13 at 4 p.m.