ALBANY, N.Y. – Binghamton fell behind 5-0 and 8-4, but responded with an 8-0 run to flip the script, as they took down defending champion UAlbany 12-11 and clinched the program’s first-ever America East Women’s Lacrosse Championship on a soggy Sunday morning at John Fallon Field.
The Great Danes jumped on Binghamton early, scoring five goals in the opening 12 minutes. They looked in control leading 8-4 with 70 seconds left in the half, however, the Bearcats scored three times in the final minute to trail by just one. Binghamton then scored the first five goals of the second half and held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Great Danes, including a shot attempt in the last five seconds, to escape with their first title.
Binghamton goalkeeper Sofia Salgado was an anchor for the defense and finished with nine saves, including six in the second half, to earn Most Outstanding Player honors.
The Bearcats (12-6) will learn their NCAA draw during the selection show on Sunday on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. #AEWLAX teams have won at least once in the NCAA Tournament each of the past seven years.
How It Happened
- Grace McCauley opened the scoring for UAlbany (8-10) at 12:05 and the Great Dane offense added four more goals over the next nine minutes, stretching their lead to 5-0.
- Olivia Muscolino finally got Binghamton on the board at 2:19, but a 2-1 run by UAlbany left Binghamton trailing 7-2 with 11:34 remaining in the half.
- The Bearcats cut the deficit to 7-4, though McCauley pushed the lead back to four with 1:38 left in the half.
- Binghamton won the ensuing draw control and trimmed it to 8-5 with just 53 seconds remaining. The Bearcats added two more goals in the last 20 seconds, thanks to draw wins by Hayley Welter to trail only 8-7 at the half.
- The third was all Binghamton as they outscored UAlbany 4-0 to grab an 11-8 lead. Madison Murphy extended the lead to 12-8 at 12:26 in the fourth.
- UAlbany finally ended its scoring drought on a goal with 1:35 left and then scored 15 seconds late to trim the deficit to 12-10.
- Neither team scored again until UAlbany made it a one-goal game with 1:44 remaining. The Great Danes couldn’t get past the Binghamton defense in the final minute as the Bearcats held on for the victory.
- Emma Blloshmi scored four times, while Scheidel had three goals. Welter finished with 12 draw controls, one goal and one assist.
- Megan Dineen and Ava Poupard each had three goals for UAlbany, while Grace Cincebox made eight saves in net.
All-Championship Team
Sofia Salgado, Binghamton (MOP)
Zoe Congdon, Binghamton
Madison Murphy, Binghamton
Kristen Scheidel, Binghamton
Hayley Welter, Binghamton
Megan Dineen, UAlbany
Alexa Driscoll, UAlbany
Sydney Smith, UAlbany
Isabella Fontana, UMBC
Kolby Weedon, UMBC
Audra Hansen, UMass Lowell
Rylee Kelly, UMass Lowell
Kristen Scheidel was recognized as the winner of the America East Elite 18 award for having the highest GPA among student-athletes competing in the championship. The senior owns a 3.87 GPA as a Biological Sciences major.
Recap the tournament by visiting Championship Central for box scores, highlights and recaps from each game.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
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