Looking to bounce-back in their second-straight home game after falling to the Monmouth Hawks on Wednesday, Feb. 26, Marist women’s lacrosse fell to Binghamton (2-3 record) 8-7 in a cutthroat affair on March 1.
From start to finish, the game was controlled by Bearcats junior attacker Emma Blloshmi, who entered the game with 14 goals in four games—now 20 goals in just five games.
For the Red Foxes, sophomore attacker Anne Shine led the balanced offensive attack with her first-career hat trick. Marist failed to capitalize on opportunities late in the second half that could have made the difference.
Ultimately, penalties and fouls dictated much of the game. The Bearcats had 10 free position shots, and Marist accumulated 15 minutes of penalty time, two variables that can be difficult to reconcile.
The Bearcats erupted to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. After scoring their first within a minute of play, they continued to apply pressure.
Fouling became an issue for the Foxes early. Binghamton scored three goals from free-position looks in the period, all three logged by their leading scorer Blloshmi.
Defensively, sophomore goalie Maeve Sayre put up a wall, saving four shots and allowing one goal. She finished with 12 saves in the game.
In the second quarter, the Red Foxes battled back in a big way. Shine scored two goals en route to her first-half hat trick to highlight a 5-to-1 Marist run, bringing the Foxes within a score at half. Blloshmi added her fourth goal for the Bearcats as their sole score of the second.
“We prepared really well in the last two days, and we knew it was all about execution,” said Shine. “After every play, we were talking to each other, running our plays, trusting our systems—we knew we were gonna stay in the game.”
After a rough first period, sophomore goalkeeper Megan Morris found her footing, climbing back to finish with eight saves to eight allowed.
After seven scoreless minutes for both sides, junior midfielder Jesse Manger finally broke the tie in favor of the Foxes to knot the game at 6-6.
Emma Blloshmi scored her fifth goal of the game on her fourth free-position opportunity to seize the lead for the Bearcats 7-6, and end a gritty third period with not much scoring.
Sophomore attacker Kate Gaven opened up scoring in the final frame with an impressive outside rocket to tie the game 7-7.
The tension rose as both goalies continued to make timely saves, with both offenses desperately trying to break through. Marist struggled to turn possessions into scores; Shine logged six total shots-on-goal, and senior midfielder Chloe Birckhead tallied four shots-on-goal to only one score.
“We were giving each other the opportunities, but we weren’t finishing at the end of the day,” said Shine. “I’m not too happy right now, but there’s always more work to be done—every game we are getting better, and it’s coming together for sure.”
Who else to break the fourth quarter stalemate other than Blloshmi, who sliced inside for her sixth goal, giving the Bearcats the 8-7 advantage.
The Marist offense received plenty of possessions to knot the game back up in the final three minutes, but could not capitalize, turning the ball over with twenty seconds left to seal the game for the Bearcats.
Now, the Red Foxes face an upcoming five-game road gauntlet. They’ll travel down to the Big Apple next week on March 5 at 4 p.m., facing Columbia to tee it off.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Graphic by Quinn Difiore
Photo from Kira Crutcher
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