VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's lacrosse rallied in the third period and held off a comeback attempt from Vermont in the fourth period to win a thriller, 11-10. Almost 500 fans witnessed the Bearcats extend their historic win streak to six games on Saturday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex. Binghamton remains unbeaten in the America East (3-0) with the win over the Catamounts, who entered the season as the reigning America East champions. Olivia Muscolino had a game-high seven points (four goals, three assists), to lead the Bearcats. Madison Murphy and Hayley Weltner each scored two goals. Kristen Scheidel had a career-high eight draw controls and Angelina Suau set a new career-high with caused six turnovers. Suau also picked up four ground balls. Emily Manning made key saves in the victory and finished the game with six.

"It came down to making sure that we were getting stops on the defensive end today," head coach Stephanie Allen said. "On the flip side, I thought our second half performance on the offensive end was much better. For us to go 100% on our man-up opportunities was really key as well."

Vermont got off to a fast start with two goals in the first four minutes. Muscolino put Binghamton on the board with her 23rd goal of the season with 8:30 left in the opening period. Murphy tied the game at 2-2 with her ninth goal of the season off of a Muscolino assist with just under six minutes remaining in the first period. Just over a minute later, Muscolino found Abigail Carroll, who scored her 30th goal of the season to give Bearcats their first lead of the game with 4:37 left in the first period. Vermont tied the game less than a minute later, but the Bearcats responded with two goals (Weltner and Newman) in the final three minutes of the period to take a 5-3 lead. All five of Binghamton's goals in the first period were scored on man-up opportunities.

In the second period, Vermont held Binghamton scoreless and had four unanswered goals to grab a 7-5 lead at halftime. The Catamounts had a 9-1 advantage in shots for the second period. 

"We talked about battling at halftime and wanting it more," said Allen. "Our offensive performance in the second quarter was not up to par. It came down to us going out in the second half and getting after things with an intensity we didn't have in that second quarter." 

Binghamton flipped the script and held Vermont scoreless for the entire third period. Binghamton held a 9-7 lead at the end of the third period. The Bearcats had eight shots in the third period and held Vermont to just one. Muscolino showcased her offensive presence by scoring three of the four Binghamton goals in the third period. Muscolino extended her season total to 26 goals. 

"We were preparing for this game to be really competitive," said Muscolino. "Big shout out to the defense. We had a couple moments in the second quarter where the offense was slacking and they picked us up. We really started to get going after that."

In the final period, Vermont scored the first goal of the period with exactly nine minutes remaining. Scheidel found Marisa Tancredi who put Binghamton up 10-8 with 7:54 left in the fourth. Murphy converted a free position attempt to extend the Binghamton to 11-8. Vermont rallied back and got within one goal with 1:33 left in the game. Weltner won a crucial draw control and ran out the clock in the final seconds to seal the victory. Binghamton finished the game with a 24-19 advantage in shots. 

"It comes down to these games in the America East that we know are going to be tight and this was a battle to the end," said Allen. "It was a total team effort."

The Bearcats travel to Bryant for a 12 p.m. game on Saturday, April 8 in Smithfield, R.I.