VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's lacrosse defeated UMBC, 18-13, in the America East opener on Saturday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex. Binghamton recorded their first four-game win streak in program history. The Bearcats dominated the first period with a nine goal outburst, and never looked back.

Hayley Weltner set a new BU single-game record with 14 draw controls. Weltner surpassed the previous record of 11, which she held a share of with Sofia Afkham (2019-22). Weltner recorded 11 draw controls in a road game against Lafayette earlier this season on March 1.  Weltner went up against UMBC's Megan Halczuk for majority of the game in the draw circle. Halczuk entered the game with 73 draw controls, the third-most in the NCAA, and finished with just seven. Abigail Carroll led the way for Binghamton with five goals, and Olivia Muscolino and Marisa Tancredi each added four goals. Carroll now has a team-high 28 goals on the season.

"Today was a great way to start conference play and I'm happy to see the production we had against a really talented UMBC team," head coach Stephanie Allen said. "Hayley and our draw crew did an exceptional job of getting us possessions and the ball in our offense's sticks. Everyone on the offensive end stepped up and contributed today. Great team win!" 

UMBC scored just 59 seconds into the game to grab a 1-0 lead. It would be their only lead of the game. The Bearcats quickly responded with an unanswered seven-goal outburst over a 10-minute span to gain the necessary momentum in the first period. Carroll scored Binghamton's first three goals and recorded a hat trick in just five minutes. Isabella Meli scored her 15th goal of the season to make it a 4-1 game with 7:27 left in the first period. On the next possession, Kenna Newman scored her 12th goal of the season to extend the lead to 5-1. Olivia Muscolino added a pair of goals to increase the lead to 7-1. After a goal by the Retrievers, Carroll converted a man-up opportunity, putting Binghamton ahead 8-2. In the final minute of the opening period, Emma Conroy scored her fifth goal of the season to give the Bearcats a 9-3 lead. 

In the second period, both teams each scored five goals. Marisa Tancredi had the first three Binghamton goals of the second period over a seven-minute span, with her final goal of that flurry happening with 6:28 left in the first half. Muscolino converted a man-up advantage and stretched the Binghamton lead to 13-6 with 5:05 left in the first half, which gave Binghamton their largest lead of the game. After two UMBC goals trimmed the deficit to five, Kenna Newman scored her second goal of the game with just over a minute left in the first half to give Binghamton a 14-8 lead at the break.

UMBC outscored Binghamton 4-1 in the third period, but the Bearcats still held a 15-12 advantage. In the fourth period, Binghamton outscored the Retrievers, 3-1. Weltner, Muscolino, and Tancredi all had goals in the period. There were a combined 10 penalties in the game (UMBC 7, Binghamton 3). Emily Manning and Sofia Salgado each had two saves in the game. 

The Bearcats travel to New Hampshire for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday in Durham.