“I felt that we performed really well,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “The team score wasn’t as high as we have been in the past, but the individuals we had performed really well.”

“We had some injuries, and we were missing some people, and the women’s team was very young, and that’s why the score wasn’t as high, but I couldn’t be happier with the actual performances of the people who were there,” he continued.

Graduate student Marcus Johnson finished first in the 400 hurdles for the second year in a row with a program record of 50.49. He also won silver in the triple jump with a distance of 48-0. Johnson finished the weekend being named the Men’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete, and his time for the 400 hurdles is currently ranked No. 11 in NCAA East Region rankings.

Sophomore Brennan Delany tallied 7,049 points in the decathlon, earning him gold and the Men’s Rookie of the Meet. Rounding out the men’s individual first-place finishes for the Bearcats was graduate student Josh Stone, who finished the 5,000 at 14:15.73.

“[Johnson] in the 400 hurdles PR’d by three or almost four tenths of a second, so that was fantastic,” Thompson said. “He’s one of the top runners in the country right down in the 400 hurdles, so that was great. Josh Stone in the 5K, he’s had some races this year where his body’s just not cooperating with him and he’s fighting through it, and he’s a really tough competitor, but it was really nice to see him finally have a race where he just felt really good.”

Continuing the Bearcats’ success was the men’s 4×400 team, who beat the odds and took home gold with a time of 3:10.88, courtesy of Johnson, graduate student Oliver Madariaga, senior Joe Cardascia, and junior Samson Joseph. Redshirt sophomore Brian Luciano won silver in the hammer throw with a distance of 210-6 and fourth in the discus with 152-10, while sophomore Putu Sutayasa recorded a distance of 23-4, placing third.

On the women’s side, senior Jennifer Mui brought home gold in the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 10:17.89, currently No. 31 in the East Region. Taking silver in the 1,500 was freshman Anna Gansrow, finishing at 4:40.50.

Freshman Savanna Edwards took home bronze in the 400 hurdles at 1:01.94. Three Bearcats made the top five at the pole vault: junior Alyssa Armitage in second with a distance of 12-7.5; sophomore Tatum Norris in third with 12-1.5; and freshman Siena Jacobson in fifth with 11-1.75.

“I thought [Mui’s] performance was, again, fantastic,” Thompson said. “That was like a 15-second PR or somewhere around there, or 17 seconds, I think it was, which is a huge amount of time to take off in a 3,000-meter steeplechase. It’s a time that will probably qualify her for regionals, so on the women’s side, that was the performance of the meet.”

Three Bearcats on the women’s team finished fourth in their events: junior Sydney Leitner in the 10,000 at 36:56.10; Norris in the 400 dash at 55.44; and sophomore Dami Modupe in the 100 hurdles at 14.20.

Eight Bearcats were named to the Men’s All-Conference team: Stone, Johnson, Delany, Luciano, Sutayasa, Madariaga, Joseph and Cardascia. Mui, Armitage, Norris, Gansrow and Edwards were named to the Women’s All-Conference team.

The Bearcats are set to compete in the ECAC/IC4A Championships from Friday, May 16 to Sunday, May 18. The first event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia.

“I thought it was a really good meet,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “I felt that the distance runners and sprinters, especially, had a good weekend.”

Highlighting the Bearcat men’s performance was graduate student Marcus Johnson, who placed first in the 400 hurdles with a time of 50.98 and second in the triple jump with a distance of 14.51m. Sophomore Liam Cody took home silver in the 1,500 with a time of 3:55.54. In the 110-meter hurdles was sophomore Brennan Delany, who placed fourth with a time of 14.60. Rounding out the top-five finishes for BU was sophomore Putu Sutayasa, who finished fifth in the long jump with a distance of 7.07m.

“The hurdle race was excellent,” Thompson said. “That time will almost certainly qualify [Johnson] for the regional championships, so it was great that he could run that well right out of the gate. You know, last year, he ran a little bit faster, but it was at the very end of the season, so he’s in a great spot. The triple jump, his distance wasn’t his best, but he was jumping really well, he just kept fouling his good jump, so it was a great weekend for Marcus.”

Other standout performances came from freshman Oliver Jibb, who placed sixth in the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 9:23.95, and junior Matthew Oluwole, who tied for sixth in the high jump with a distance of 1.93m. Sophomore Jose Iraola-Ceely placed seventh in the hammer throw with a distance of 48.68m.

“I just think that the sprinters as a whole were solid,” Thompson said. “I was really impressed with the men’s 4×1 relay, because most of the regular runners on that relay didn’t run, so we kind of threw it together last minute, and they ran very well. So it was it was nice to see them, one get the chance and two run a really good relay, so I thought that was great.”

On the women’s side, senior Jennifer Mui took home gold in the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 10:37.05. Graduate student Gianna Hoose placed second in the hammer throw with a distance of 49.25m. Finishing off the Bearcat women’s top-five finishes was junior Sydney Leitner in the 5,000 with a distance of 17:07.09 that earned her fourth place.

“I thought the highlight was Jen Mui in the steeplechase, she ran very well,” Thompson said. “Again, the sprinters and the hurdlers, they really, as a whole, did well.”

Continuing the Bearcats’ success was sophomore Carlea Davis in the triple jump, who placed seventh with a distance of 11.61m. Two Bearcats placed eighth in their respective events, sophomore Deborah Estabine in both the hammer with a distance of 45.99m and the shot put with a distance of 11.81m, and freshman Siena Jacobson in the pole vault with a distance of 3.55m.

“Carlea Davis in the triple jump [has] really come on strong in the past couple of months,” Thompson said. “She had her first ever 38-foot triple jump, which was a huge barrier for her, and I thought that was also a highlight.”

The Bearcats will head to Bucknell to compete at the Bison Outdoor Challenge from Saturday, April 12 to Sunday, April 13. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

“It comes down to consistency,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “That’s our biggest issue right now, and we’ve got to play an entire 60 minutes with the mentality that we maybe had in the first and fourth quarter.”

Three minutes in, a free-position shot for junior attack Carla Curth put Binghamton (3-8, 0-2 AE) on the board. The Retrievers (10-1, 3-0 AE) then quickly scored to tie the game at one. This did not deter BU, as Curth responded with another goal off an assist from sophomore midfielder Mia Forte. After that, junior attack Emma Blloshmi got on the board to give Binghamton a 3-1 lead. UMBC once again responded with a goal of their own.

The Bearcats, however, were able to end the period with a goal courtesy of senior midfielder Abigail Carroll and two more from senior attacker Marisa Tancredi — both of whom were assisted by senior attacker Olivia Muscolino — to put BU up 6-2 at the end of one.

“Just our mentality, I think that was a good shift from what we’ve seen in the last couple games,” Allen said. “Defensively, really dialed in, in low-clock situations and man down and certainly there in the fourth quarter. Getting some different personnel on the score sheet today was important to us too, from an offensive standpoint, so those are all positives.”

Looking to advance their lead, the Bearcats scored early into the second period when a pass from Muscolino found its way to Curth, who secured a hat trick with a score. The Retrievers then swapped goalies, hoping to keep Binghamton off the board. However, the Bearcats kept the ball rolling with scores off of free-position shots from Blloshmi and freshman midfielder Anthea Hayslip one minute apart to take a 9-2 lead. UMBC stormed back in response with five unanswered goals to cut BU’s lead down to 9-7 as they went into halftime.

“We certainly didn’t make the proper adjustments from a shooting standpoint,” Allen said. “I mean, we scouted [the UMBC goalie], we prepared for that. We just didn’t make the necessary adjustments with our shooting.”

Going into the third period, the Bearcats hoped to regain control of the game’s momentum, but the Retrievers had other plans. UMBC punched in four consecutive goals in the third to not only tie the game but also take an 11-9 lead over BU. Binghamton was able to break up the run before the period came to a close when a score by Muscolino made it 11-10.

The fourth period started with tough gameplay as the two teams traded blows. At the 7:30 mark, a free position shot by Muscolino allowed BU to tie the game at 11-11. As the minutes dwindled, both teams continued to search for a potential game-winner. It was UMBC who broke the tie, scoring the final goal of the match with 2:27 remaining. After two unsuccessful shots from Forte and Blloshmi, the clock expired and the Bearcats fell 12-11 to the Retrievers.

“I think UMBC made some good adjustments,” Allen said. “We’ve got to be able to make stops and convert on our offensive end when teams start to get the hot hand and that just didn’t happen for us in that second and third quarter today.”

Binghamton will continue to search for its first AE win when it hosts Vermont on Saturday, April 5. Faceoff is scheduled for noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“I think there was definitely some areas that we were trying to work on after not winning the first couple games,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “I think clearing was one of them, the faceoff was one of them, and I think both of those things have improved the last few games, so those two things help get us possession and prevent the other team from scoring. I think those would probably be the two biggest focuses that we were trying to work on, and I think that, definitely, that did help today.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Binghamton (4-4, 2-0 AE) and St. Bonaventure (5-6, 0-0 Atlantic 10) battled it out in the second to see who could get on the board first. After a few unsuccessful shots, the Bearcats found the back of the net at the 10:15 mark, courtesy of senior midfielder Nick Cartmill. Less than a minute after, the Bearcats struck again with a goal from junior midfielder Colin Delay.

The next few minutes of play saw possession go back and forth as the teams fought for the next goal. With only 1:33 left in the second quarter, junior midfielder Gavin Jacobsen punched one more in to give Binghamton a 3-0 lead.

“I think in the second quarter, we did better offensively just finishing the plays,” McKeown said. “I thought we were a little more purposeful with our shooting. Second half, I didn’t think we did great with that, we ended up with, I think, 50 shots and only scored six, so definitely would like to can more of those, but defensively, I think we did really well.”

In the third quarter, the Bearcats looked to advance their lead, but the Bonnies found twine first to get on the board. This was the only goal allowed on the period by senior goalie Connor Winters, whose six saves saved BU’s lead. Binghamton responded when junior midfielder Tyler Martini found the back of the net, giving Binghamton a 4-1 lead going into the final quarter.

“I think the way we played defensively was great,” McKeown said. “I think Connor Winters in net coming up with maybe his biggest game of the year — we’re gonna need him to play big to win the conference games especially, that we’re looking at ahead of us. I think he’s a guy that we are counting on to move this team and expect big things out of.”

The fourth quarter saw a major momentum shift, as St. Bonaventure successfully came back with a four-goal run to take a 5-4 lead. This put the Bearcats on the back foot for the first time all game, but graduate student attack/midfield Liam Ferris came through in the clutch to tie the game 5-5 to go to overtime. In the extra period, Binghamton battled to take home the win, and with nine seconds remaining, a goal from Jacobsen secured BU’s fourth consecutive victory.

“We had two penalties there and they scored one man up and then I think they scored another one,” McKeown said. “I don’t know if they were still man up at the time, but it was another opportunity for them to go man up back to back. I think that was something that gave them a little bit of a spark. They scored the first one and then were able to kind of get the third goal just off of their man up.”

Binghamton will look to keep the ball rolling against No. 12 Harvard for its next match on Saturday, March 29. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jordan Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I think just maybe some comfortability,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “Your own environment, your own locker room that you get at home that you might not get on the road. But honestly, I think we expect to be better than we were today, and I’m not sure if it mattered where we had played.”

Hofstra (4-1) took the lead early on with three consecutive goals in the first four minutes. This did not deter Binghamton (0-3), as a minute after the third goal, graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris picked up a ground ball and put Binghamton on the board. The Pride’s offense did not relent, setting the score at 6-1 with two minutes left of play in the first period. With only 54 seconds remaining, junior midfielder Colin Delay connected with sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo, who found the back of the net. As the seconds dwindled, the Pride had a man-up opportunity that led to one more goal as they went into the second quarter up 7-2.

“Honestly, first half, we didn’t like too much,” McKeown said. “They scored on eight of their first 11 possessions and I didn’t think we did a good job of being patient offensively. I did think that we battled pretty well facing off, but we just didn’t come out and I thought we were a little tentative while they were a little more aggressive and got after us at the start.”

The second period started with a faceoff win and clear from Hofstra, leading to another three-goal run and a 10-2 advantage. With eight minutes left, the Bearcats looked for an opportunity to get back on the board, but two of their shots on goal were saved. With just two minutes remaining, Ferris, off an assist from sophomore attack Drew Filanowski scored Binghamton’s third goal, bringing the first half to a close with a score of 10-3.

“I thought toward the end of the second quarter we started sticking to the game plan a little bit more,” McKeown said. “We didn’t really make any big schematic changes necessarily at halftime.”

Binghamton won the opening faceoff as it searched for the first goal of the third period. After four minutes of play, the Bearcats would have a shot on goal that Hofstra’s goalkeeper ultimately saved. The quarter ended with two more goals, one from Hofstra and one from the Bearcats, courtesy of Girolamo, as the scoreboard read 12-4 going into the final quarter of play.

“We got to do a better job securing the ball, clearing and do the faceoff,” McKeown said. “I think offensively/defensively, you know, we’re gonna, probably just really look to get back to basics, slide and recover defensively and move the ball and work for good opportunities on offense.”

Early into the fourth period, Hofstra scored on a man-up opportunity, going up 13-4. For the next seven minutes, the ball went back and forth until a turnover from Hofstra and a clear from the Bearcats led sophomore long stick midfielder Nolan Sharkey to score his first collegiate goal. With 37 seconds left, Hofstra found the back of the net one last time as the Bearcats fell 15-5.

“We’ll take a look at everything,” McKeown said. “Thankfully, I think, hopefully it’s a good thing that we have a quick turnaround and play midweek and we’re able to get back out there and hopefully forget about this one.”

Binghamton will return home for its home opener against Siena on Wednesday, March 5. Faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

“It’s been a very good season, but there have been some challenges as well,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “So it’s been frustrating in some ways, but I feel that the team really came together when it counted most this past weekend, so, yeah, overall, I’m very pleased with the season.”

The first day of action saw the Bearcats come out strong, with redshirt sophomore Brian Luciano, junior Alyssa Armitage and graduate student Josh Stone all defending their individual conference titles. Luciano took home gold in the men’s weight throw with a distance of 71-2.5, which broke his own school record. Armitage took home her third consecutive win in the women’s pole vault with a distance of 12-7.5 and became the first female athlete to win three straight individual conference titles since 2010-12. Stone’s 14:09.60 earned him a win in the 5,000m, and he has now won three AE 5,000m titles.

“It was very exciting,” Thompson said. “It’s always easier to chase than it is to be chased, so, when you’re a defending champion, it’s a little more pressure. [Luciano] threw very well, it was his personal best, and [Stone] looked amazing, the last lap of the race he just was on fire and won pretty easily. [Armitage] was struggling a little bit … But she still found a way to win, so that was impressive as well.”

Day one continued with graduate students Gianna Hoose and Penelope Paldino taking home silver in the women’s weight throw with a distance of 59-11.75 and the pentathlon with 3,380 points, respectively. Sophomore Tatum Norris tied for third place in the women’s pole vault with a distance of 11-7.75. Fourth-place finishes included sophomore Deborah Estabine in the women’s weight throw with a distance of 57-4.25, junior Sydney Leitner in the women’s 5,000 with a time of 16:57.19, sophomore Putu Sutayasa in the men’s long jump with a leap of 23-0.75 and freshman Jacob Park in the men’s pole vault with a distance of 15-6.25.

“It was a very good first day, [and] I thought that we did what we needed to do,” Thompson said. “We typically are a very good first-day team because of the pole vault and the weight throw, the 5K, the distance medley relay … Long jump as well, we’re traditionally pretty strong, so, we’re always a very good first-day team. I felt that we did exactly what we should have done.”

On Sunday, graduate student Jenna Chan took home gold in the women’s 60 hurdles with a time of 8.36, marking this the third title of her career. Graduate student Marcus Johnson captured a first-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 50-2.5 — his second AE title after winning the 400 hurdles last spring. Senior Joe Cardascia also captured a first-place finish in the 500m with a time of 1:03.11, breaking the school record and winning his first individual career title. Rounding out Binghamton’s first-place finishes was sophomore Brennan Delany, who won the heptathlon with 5,089 points.

“They performed very well, so I couldn’t have been happier,” Thompson said. “[Johnson] went over to the triple jump and on his last jump moved from third place to first place and had a personal best in his first 50-foot jump and that was one of the big performances of the meet, not just because he won and jumped far, but because he had just crashed in the 200 [after being knocked out of the race] and didn’t let it affect him at all. I mean, he was very composed the whole weekend.”

Day two continued with two runner-up performances from junior Matthew Oluwole in the high jump with 6-5 and Stone in the 3,000 with a time of 8:13.95. Earning bronze titles were freshman Anna Gansrow in the mile with a time of 4:56.10 and senior Lucciana Robertson in the high jump with a leap of 5-7. Rounding out the Bearcat’s top-five finishes on Sunday was Norris in the 200m, who placed fourth with a time of 24.53.

Three Bearcats earned three of the major awards. Luciano was named the Most Outstanding Men’s Field Athlete, Stone was named the Men’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete and Paldino earned the America’s East Women’s Indoor Track & Field Elite 18 Award for her performance during the meet and her academic accomplishments. The Binghamton men’s all-conference selections included Luciano, Stone, Johnson, Delany, Cardascia and Oluwole. The women’s all-conference team selections were Chan, Armitage, Paldino, Hoose, Norris and Gansrow.

“[For Paldino], the Elite 18, that was a total surprise,” Thompson said. “She was very excited and we were all very excited as well. So it’s always fun to get those individual awards, in addition to the team awards and that sort of thing.”

The Bearcats are set to return to Boston to compete in the ECAC/IC4A Championships from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 9. The first event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

“It’s been a long week for us,” said Binghamton head coach Kevin McKeown. “We weren’t able to practice outside at all, and I think it showed a little bit today. We really didn’t clear the ball well all day and I thought ultimately that was the biggest difference in the game.”

The Bearcats (0-2) got on the board early with two quick goals within the first three minutes courtesy of graduate student attack/midfielder Liam Ferris and sophomore attack Drew Filanowski. After a few minutes of back-and-forth play from both sides, an assist from Ferris led to a goal by senior attack Gage Adams to give Binghamton a 3-0 advantage. Marist (2-1) continued to look for an opportunity to get on the board and ultimately found the back of the net with four minutes left, ending the first quarter down 3-1.

“I thought we played hard,” McKeown said. “Then they put one in at the end of the second quarter right before halftime — it was like a deflective pass. I felt like we were doing okay, but again, I didn’t think the way we were clearing the ball was going to be able to hold up.”

The second quarter began with an early goal from Marist, putting the score at 3-2. The Bearcats responded with two goals of their own from Ferris on a man-up opportunity off an assist from sophomore attack Andrew Girolamo and from senior attack Dan Garone, making the score 5-2. Within the final seven minutes of play, the Red Foxes were able to capitalize on opportunities and scored two goals of their own before the period finished. The first half of play ended 5-4, with the Bearcats holding on to the lead.

“We made a couple of adjustments lining up on our clear and provide a little more support at the midfield,” McKeown said. “I thought we adjusted okay to that. We made a few stick work errors that I think bite us a little bit, but, we felt like for not clearing the ball as much as we did in the first half to be winning, we were pretty fortunate.”

Binghamton found success in the third quarter from a man-up opportunity when junior midfielder Gavin Jacobsen found the back of the net off an assist from Girolamo to give the Bearcats a 6-4 lead. Marist then captured the next two goals, tying things at six. Binghamton quickly responded with a goal from Garone off an assist from Ferris to take back the lead. The next few minutes of play, the ball went back and forth, but the period ended with BU up 7-6.

“Without watching the film, I thought we did pretty well there,” McKeown said. “I think [Marist] got a pretty explosive offense and got some good players. I thought [senior goalie Connor Winters] played well in net, I thought our close defense did a good job on their attack. Offensively, I thought we had some good possessions, we moved the ball well at times.”

The final quarter began with Marist getting on the board within the first few seconds, tying the game at seven. The Bearcats looked to take back the lead, and a goal from Girolamo accomplished this. The next goal of the match also came from Binghamton when Adams connected with Ferris, who scored his third goal of the game. With the score at 9-7, the Red Foxes found twine twice to tie the game at nine. Both teams looked to get the final goal and win the match, but Marist succeeded, finding the back of the net to defeat Binghamton 10-9.

“We got to work on our stick work a little bit, thought we threw the ball away too much and obviously the clearing game is a big one, keep hitting on that,” McKeown said. “That’s what we told the guys in the locker room after the game, and that’ll be a big focus for us.”

Binghamton will look to get its first win of the season as they head to Hofstra University on Saturday, March 1. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York.

“I feel we’re in a good spot,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “I’m curious to see how we perform next weekend, but overall, I think we are in a pretty good spot going into the conference.”

The weekend started at Boston University, where Binghamton competed at the Valentine’s Invitational from Friday to Saturday. The most notable performance at the meet came from senior Joe Cardascia, who competed in the 400m, where he placed fourth with a time of 47.93. On Saturday, the Bearcats headed to Cornell University, where they competed in the Kane Invitational. This meet saw several outstanding performances for Binghamton.

On the women’s side, graduate student Jenna Chan once again tied her school record that she set last weekend in the 60 hurdles. Chan came in first with a time of 8.35, marking her fifth win in this event this season. Graduate student Penelope Paldino took home silver in the same event with a time of 8.56, marking the third-fastest time in program history. Fellow graduate student Gianna Hoose took home gold in the weight throw with a distance of 58-7.25. Senior Lucciana Robertson also took home a first-place finish in the high jump with a distance of 5-6.5.

“[Chan] performed very well, like she generally does,” Thompson said. “I thought on the women’s side, the two standout performances to me were [Paldino] in the hurdles, which was a huge performance for her but also [sophomore Carlea Davis] in the triple jump, who I think placed fourth and maybe wouldn’t stand out right away, but it was a personal best for her by almost two feet.”

The Bearcats did not stop there, as three women took home bronze: junior Alyssa Armitage in the pole vault with a distance of 12-9.5, senior Zoe Rose in the 800m with a time of 2:23.47 and sophomore Abigail Litwiller in the 3,000m with a time of 10:56.64. Davis competed in the triple jump, where she took home a fourth-place finish with a distance of 36-6.25.

“I was happy with [freshman Justin Hargraves] and [sophomore Marcus Nahim] in the 60,” Thompson said. “I know they both probably wanted to run faster, but they ran well, they’ve been consistent. [Hargraves has] had a couple tough meets in a row, so it was nice to see him back, but I think that they’re really going to do well at the conference meet. I think they’re both set up to take it to another level and contribute next weekend.”

On the men’s side, freshman John Garrison took home gold in the 3,000m with a time of 9:06.98. In the 60m, Hargraves took home silver with a time of 6.91, followed by Nahim in third with a time of 6.92. Two Bearcats took home fourth-place finishes in their respective events, sophomore Brennan Delany in the long jump with a distance of 22-4.25 and freshman Jacob Park in the pole vault with a distance of 14-7.25. With this final weekend coming to a close, Binghamton will head into the next week preparing for the conference meet.

“This week will be about just staying sharp, not a lot of volume of work so that they can recover and feel really fresh and ready to go this weekend,” Thompson said. “All the work has been done, so this week will be pretty light and we’ll just give them a chance to feel recovered and at their best.”

The Bearcats will head back to Boston University to compete at the America East Conference Championships from Saturday, Feb. 22. to Sunday, Feb 23. The first event is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Boston University Track & Tennis in Boston, Massachusetts.

“I feel like about half of the team is right on track and doing really well and I feel like the other half isn’t quite there yet,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “So hopefully in the next couple of weeks everybody will get on the same page and we’ll be good going into conference.”

Graduate student Jenna Chan competed in the 60 hurdles and finished with a time of 8.35. Chan’s distance in the event broke her own school record, earning her a first-place finish. Another standout performer was junior Alyssa Armitage in the pole vault, where she took home silver with a distance of 13-1.5. In addition, sophomore Kaya Duran finished third in the 500 with a time of 1:24.13. Senior Lucciana Robertson also took home bronze in the high jump with a distance of 5-7.25.

“It was a great race for [Chan],” Thompson said. “She’d been running kind of the same times for most of the season, so it was good to see her finally have that one breakout race. So that was very exciting.”

On the men’s side in the weight throw was redshirt sophomore Brian Luciano, who finished first with a distance of 67-11. Graduate student Marcus Johnson also took home gold in the 500 with a time of 1:04.36. Sophomore Brennan Delany finished fourth in the 60 hurdles with distances of 8.26. Graduate student Oliver Madariaga also took home a fourth-place finish in the 400 with a time of 48.49.

“[Johnson] ran very well, and he has been running well, so that was nice to see,” Thompson said. “[Luciano], you know, he won, but for him, that was an average throw. 
I mean, he’s just better than most people, so I doubt he was happy with that performance even though he won, but he won’t compete until the conference meet. Now he’ll take this coming weekend off. He’s a gamer, I mean, he’s a great competitor, so I fully expect him to do very well in two weeks at the conference meet.”

Other standout performances from the meet include sophomore Putu Sutayasa, who finished fifth in the long jump with a distance of 22.25. Also finishing in fifth were sophomore Marcus Nahim and freshman Bobby Mayclim in the 60 and 3,000, with times of 6.92 and 8:24.58, respectively. In the weight throw, graduate student Gianna Hoose finished in fourth with a distance of 58-8.50. Sophomore Tatum Norris finished fifth in the 200 with a time of 24.88. Last, was sophomore Dami Modupe in the 60 hurdles, who finished fifth with a time of 8.77.

“I thought that Armitage, actually, even though she jumped what for her is kind of a typical height, she jumped very well,” Thompson said. “So sometimes, in the pole vault, you can jump really high, but still hit the bar and it comes off. And so she was jumping very well, and I was very excited about that moving forward. Sutayasa in the long jump, he had a couple of really big jumps that were foul. So even though his distance was average for him, you can tell that he’s ready to go and really hit a big jump.”

Along with those events, there were several other Bearcats who finished within the top-10 in their respective categories, such as sophomore Liam Cody, freshman Andrew Fasone, freshman Caleb Alexandre, junior Matthew Oluwole, and freshman Anna Gansrow. This weekend was a chance for Binghamton to continue its preparations for the America East (AE) Championship meet in two weeks.

“We will approach it like we always approach it,” Thompson said. “That’s to cut the volume back and let them rest and recover and high-intensity workouts, but put much lower volume and just hopefully they’ll feel, you know, well-rested when they get to the conference meeting two weeks.”

The Bearcats will head to Boston University to compete at the Valentine’s Invitational from Friday, Feb. 14. to Saturday, Feb. 15. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Boston University Track & Tennis Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

“I thought as a whole the meet went really well,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “There were a few people that were a little bit off, but I would say most people performed well and, with a few weeks left before the [America East conference meet], they’re in great shape and should really be sharp and ready to go for the biggest indoor meet of the year.”

Redshirt sophomore Brian Luciano broke his own school record in the weight throw this weekend, taking home gold with a distance of 70-1.5. He becomes the first-ever Bearcat to surpass the 70-foot mark in the weight throw, and his distance of 70-1.5 now unofficially ranks No. 26 in the nation. Along with his new record, he also remains undefeated this season in the weight throw with a first-place finish at Penn State.

“[Luciano is] in a perfect spot for where he should be in the season,” Thompson said. “His goal a couple days ago was to improve his distance on the national level, because he’s right on the cusp of qualifying for the national championships, so he improved, it was his first 70-foot throw. Overall, it was just good to see him continue to improve and he’s got a couple more competitions left and hopefully he can add like another meter to his personal best and that should get him to the national championship.”

Senior Joe Cardascia broke the program record in the 500m with a 1:03.13, which was originally set in 2014 with a time of 1:03.36. His performance also earned him a second-place finish. In the 4×400 relay, BU finished in third with a time of 3:15.00 courtesy of graduate students Marcus Johnson and Oliver Madariaga, junior Samson Joseph and Cardascia. Freshman Oliver Jibb ran the 5,000m, and his time of 14:50.41 was good for a fifth-place finish. Rounding out the top-10 placements for BU was junior Matthew Oluwole, who finished eighth in the high jump with a distance of 6-4.

“That was great,” Thompson said. “ I mean [Cardascia] ran really well, he’s right on track for where he needs to be.”

Junior Alyssa Armitage, who finished fourth overall in the pole vault, continued the Bearcats’ streak of setting records this weekend. She captured a distance of 13-3.5, tying the current school record, which she set last year at the AE Indoor Championships.

“[Armitage] jumped really well, tying her school record,” Thompson said. “She almost made the next height, which I think was 13 feet 7 1/2 inches, so again, for the middle of the indoor season she’s exactly where we would like to see her. She’s doing really well.”

The women also saw success in several events, such as the 60 hurdles, where graduate student Jenna Chan took home fourth with a distance of 8.47. In the 5,000m, senior Jennifer Mui finished fifth with a time of 17:19.75. Senior Lucciana Robertson also took home a fifth-place finish in the high jump with a distance of 5-7.25. Rounding out Binghamton’s top-10 finishes was junior Sydney Leitner in the 3,000m, whose time of 9:51.36 earned her an eighth-place finish.

“I’m comfortable with where our upperclassmen are,” Thompson said. “I feel that our younger athletes, especially the freshmen, it would be nice to see some people step up and do better to try to make a difference … But I think there are a lot of people who are capable of more and hopefully in the next couple of weeks, they’ll step up and be ready to help us at the conference meet.”

The Bearcats will head back to Penn State to compete at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 8. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Multi-Sport Facility and Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, Pennsylvania.

“It was great,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “It just shows that the training is working and that people are in good shape and we’re on track to do well in a month from now at the conference meet.”

Spearheading the Bearcats’ performance was graduate student Jenna Chan, who was named the women’s Most Outstanding Track Performer. Chan placed first in both the long jump with a distance of 18-3.75 and the 60 hurdles with a distance of 8.47. In all three meets this year, Chan has captured gold in the 60 hurdles. Chan’s performance on Saturday made her the second straight Binghamton student to take the title of women’s Most Outstanding Track Performer at Bucknell.

“[Chan] had a great meet and really she just kind of continued with the progress that she’s made this year so far,” Thompson said. “It was exciting but it wasn’t a huge surprise.”

Along with Chan, six other Bearcat women finished first in their respective categories. Junior Alyssa Armitage captured the gold in the pole vault with a distance of 12-5.50. Graduate student Gianna Hoose took home first in her category, the weight throw, with a distance of 59-3. The final first-place finish in the field events came from senior Lucciana Robertson in the high jump with a distance of 5-4.5. Coming in first in the mile, 200m and 3,000m were senior Jennifer Mui, sophomore Tatum Norris, and freshman Anna Gansrow with times of 5:06.09, 25.62 and 10:07.34, respectively.

“[Armitage’s] pole vault was good — she’s jumped higher than that, but she, even though she didn’t jump as high as she’s capable of jumping, she made good progress toward the future by getting on a bigger pole that she’s ever jumped on,” Thompson said. “And [Gansrow] in the 3000, that was a great race for her as a freshman.”

On the men’s side, Binghamton took home three first-place finishes. Junior Matthew Oluwole brought back the gold in the high jump with a distance of 6-6.75 The men also captured first in their 200m and 3,000m races courtesy of graduate student Marcus Johnson in the 200m with a time of 22.11 and freshman Nick Thomas in the 3,000m with a time of 8:31.08.

“I thought that [Johnson’s] 200, and actually all the guys in the 200, ran very well,” Thompson said.

The men’s side also saw the Bearcats take several top-five finishes in their respective categories. Junior Andrew Rosenblatt finished second in the mile with a time of 4:16.16. Two Bearcats captured bronze in their categories — sophomore Putu Sutayasa in the long jump with a distance of 22-11.25, and graduate student Oliver Madariaga in the 200 with a time of 22.35. Four Bearcats finished in fourth in their competitions, and two more finished in fifth. Overall, it was a successful weekend for Binghamton in its first meet with team scoring. The Bearcats will look to build on their performances as they continue their 2024-25 campaign.

“I feel really good,” Thompson said. “I think they’re in a great spot. We still have several meets before the conference meet and I look forward to seeing how they do the next month.”

The Bearcats will head to Penn State to compete at the National Open from Friday, Jan. 31 to Saturday, Feb. 1. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Multi-Sport Facility and Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Coming off a loss to Penn State, the Binghamton men’s basketball team defeated SUNY Oneonta 82-63 in its home opener on Thursday. The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead, continuing to build and maintain it through the first half. Despite a late run from the Red Dragons in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the game, it was too little too late, as Binghamton pulled out a 19-point win in front of its home crowd.

“We got to respect our opponent to go out and play as hard as we can, and I think that’s what we did,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “We never want to disappoint the home crowd, so you want to win as much as possible, especially at home. You also want to protect your home court, so I’m happy we’re able to get the win.”

While Oneonta (0-1) was first to gain possession, sophomore guard Evan Ashe grabbed a rebound and drained a three-pointer on the other end to get Binghamton (1-1) on the board. The next four points for BU came in the paint from graduate student guard Tymu Chenery and sophomore guard Jayden Lemond to make it 7-0. In the first five minutes of the game, the Bearcats were able to build a 12-point lead at 18-6. The Bearcats kept this momentum as a three-ball from graduate student guard Ben Callahan-Gold near the midway point in the half made it a 27-9 game.

“I thought we came out with the right mindset,” Sanders said. “We talked a lot this week about just trying to play together and on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, and I thought for the most part we did that.”

The Bearcats continued to dominate offensively, with senior forward Nehemiah Benson capturing the next five points, putting Binghamton up 32-11. Toward the end of the half, BU strung together a sequence that saw Lemond, Chenery, and Ashe score on fastbreak dunks—within 39 seconds of each other—to make it 40-18. To end the half, Ashe would tip the ball in to extend BU’s lead to 42-20 going into halftime.

“We wanted to double-team and kind of rotate and things like that, and I thought we did that pretty well,” Sanders said. “I liked our execution defensively, I thought we shared the ball.”

The Bearcats opened the second half on an 11-2 run to put the score at 53-22, sparked by two three-pointers from Callahan-Gold to get the scoring started. Binghamton continued to find their groove on offense, taking a 72-31 lead courtesy of a three-pointer from sophomore guard Max Sims, essentially putting the game out of reach. Despite the Red Dragons ending the game on a 13-0 run, the final score was still in BU’s favor at 82-63.

“We let them score way too many points in the second half and I think that’s because the guys that came in weren’t ready to play,” Sanders said. “So, we still have some work to do. We have two really good opponents coming up next that’s going to really test us, test our togetherness and so, I’m looking forward to these next few games.”

Callahan-Gold and Benson led the Bearcats with 21 and 18 points respectively. After holding Oneonta to just 28.57 percent shooting in the first half, BU allowed the visitors to shoot 51.72 percent in the second half. Meanwhile, BU shot 48.4 percent, enough to earn the victory.

“I think any time you win, it’s really good,” Sanders said. “We don’t take these wins for granted, even though you’re playing against a Division III opponent.”

Binghamton will hit the road to take on the University of Miami on Sunday, Nov. 10. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida.

After winning its first America East title since 2019, Maine finds itself at the top of the 2024-25 AE women’s basketball preseason poll with 60 points. The Black Bears earned five first-place votes, with several starters from last year returning to the lineup. Leading the Black Bears is five-time, reigning AE coach of the year head coach Amy Vachon, who led Maine to a 14-2 conference record and a 24-10 record overall. The Black Bears led the AE in scoring, averaging 64.1 points per game, finishing first in assists, averaging 14.5 per game and first in turnover margin at 1.74. Returning to the roster is all-conference first-team senior forward Adrianna Smith, who was named to the AE preseason all-conference team. Smith was second in the AE, averaging 16.4 points per game while also placing first in rebounding and assists with 10.8 and 4.7 per game, respectively. However, due to a torn left ACL, she will miss the entirety of the upcoming season, which raises questions about how Maine will replicate her production. Another significant loss for Maine is guard Anne Simon, who was named AE player and AE Defensive Player of the Year, after leading the conference in scoring with 18.9 points per game. Maine opens its season on Monday, Nov. 4, at the Memorial Gymnasium in Orono, Maine against La Salle.

2. UAlbany (25-7, 13-3 AE)

The Great Danes finished the 2023-24 season with an overall record of 25-7 and a 13-3 record in conference play. Expectedly, they were picked second in the 2024-2025 AE preseason poll behind Maine with 56 points and three first-place votes. In the last three seasons, Albany has won at least 13 conference games and they look to continue this trend off the back of first-team all-conference graduate student guard Kayla Cooper, who was fourth in the conference in scoring with 15.9 points per game and second in rebounding with 7.3 per game. Also returning is sharpshooting senior guard Meghan Huerter who led the AE in three-point field-goal percentage, shooting 45.9 percent from beyond the arc. However, Albany will lose third-team all-conference forwards Deja Evans and Helen Haegerstrand and will look to reproduce their offensive production. The Great Danes open their season at home against Rhode Island on Friday, Nov. 8, as they try to build off last season and capture an AE title.

3. Vermont (25-12, 12-4 AE)

After being ranked first last year in the AE preseason poll, the Catamounts return to third in the poll with 48 points. Last season, Vermont won 25 of its 37 games and had a conference record of 12-4. Coming back to the lineup this season is an all-conference second-team selection in graduate student forward Anna Olson. Olson averaged 11.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting an AE-best 55.9 percent from the field. Olson’s strong season earned her a spot on the preseason all-conference team. Also returning is reigning AE sixth Player of the Year and all-conference third-team junior guard Keira Hanson. Hanson finished 11th in the conference in scoring throughout AE play, averaging 11.3 per game, while also ranking sixth in field goal percentage, shooting 43.1 percent. She also led the AE with 34 threes in conference play while shooting 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Catamounts have lost a staple in their backcourt in three-time all-conference first-team guard Emma Utterback. While it is no surprise that Vermont is near the top of this list again, the team will have a new look as it heads into the upcoming season. The Catamounts began their season on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at home vs. Saint Michael’s.

4. Bryant (15-15, 8-8 AE)

In fourth is Bryant, who tallied 44 points in this year’s AE Preseason Poll. Returning as an offensive weapon for the Bulldogs is sophomore guard Mia Mancini. Mancini was named to both the all-conference third team and all-rookie team, after averaging 13.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game with a league-best 74 three-point field goals, earning her a spot on the AE preseason all-conference team. Also returning is sophomore forward Nia Scott who was the seventh-leading rebounder in the AE with 6.4 per game. In terms of losses, all-conference first-team selection forward/center Mariona Planes Fortuny departed in the transfer portal. The Bulldogs will need to find a way to replicate her rebounding and scoring production on the floor to have success this year. With a young roster, Bryant will look to make a splash in the AE. The season begins for the Bulldogs on Monday, Nov. 4, against Merrimack.

5. Binghamton (14-17, 8-8 AE)

6. UMBC (10-19, 6-10 AE)

Coming in sixth in this year’s AE Preseason Poll is UMBC, who tallied 26 points. Last season, UMBC was sixth in the AE, averaging 58.4 points per game. The Retrievers held offenses to 63 points a game, which was second to last in the conference, highlighting their struggles on the defense end. Notable losses for the Retrievers include AE second-team all-conference forward/center Anna Blount. She finished eighth in the AE in scoring, averaging 13.2 points per game. Returning to the lineup is junior guard Carmen Yánez who was 15th in the league in assists averaging 2.1 per game and graduate student forward Jaden Walker who was 12th in the league in rebounding, averaging 5.7 per game. Once again, UMBC finds itself in the middle to lower end of this list, looking for its breakthrough year. The Retrievers begin play on Monday, Nov. 4, against No.18 Maryland at home.

7. UMass Lowell (4-25, 4-12 AE)

UMass Lowell was picked seventh in the poll this year with 19 votes. Last season, the River Hawks struggled heavily, finishing the season at 4-25 overall. All of UMass Lowell’s wins were in conference play, as it went winless during its nonconference slate. A significant loss for the River Hawks is all-conference third-team guard Mili Carrera, who finished as the AE’s 14th leading scorer, averaging 9.6 points per game. However, returning to the lineup is redshirt senior guard Sydney Watkins, who was named to the AE all-defensive team and finished the season seventh in assists, averaging three per game. Sophomore guard Abbey Lindsey also returns to the roster after finishing 16th in points, averaging nine per game. UMass Lowell enters the 2024-2025 season in a similar situation to last year. As a part of another rebuilding year, it is no surprise that UMass Lowell is near the bottom of the rankings once again. The River Hawks will open their season on the road as they take on Colgate on Monday, Nov. 4.

8. NJIT (12-18, 4-12 AE)

After earning the fifth spot in last season’s AE Preseason Poll, NJIT falls to eighth this year, with 18 points. Returning to the roster is senior forward Trinity Williams, who finished her season 17th in the AE in scoring, averaging nine points per game, was eighth in rebounding averaging 6.4 per game, and first in blocked shots averaging 1.7 per game. Another significant return for the Highlanders is junior guard Alejandra Zuniga, who was named to the all-conference second-team after finishing fifth in points with 14.7 per game. Rounding out the returners is sophomore guard Madilyn Dogs, who finished 17th in rebounding averaging 5.0 per game, and fifth in blocked shots averaging one per game. With multiple returners, NJIT will depend on underclassmen to step up, if the team hopes to leap forward this year. The Highlanders begin their season on Monday, Nov. 4, on the road vs. Saint Francis University.

9. New Hampshire (9-20, 3-13 AE)

Rounding out this list is last-place New Hampshire with 15 points. Returning to the Wildcats this season is senior forward Clara Gomez who was 10th in the AE in rebounding averaging six per game. Gomez also led the squad and was 16th in blocks averaging 0.5 per game, while finishing third in the AE in steals averaging 2.1 per game. Other returners include junior guard Avery O’Connor, who was 11th in three-point field goals per game averaging 1.2, and sophomore guard Maggie Cavanaugh, who was 15th and 13th in steals and three-point field goals per game averaging 1.1 and 1.3 per game, respectively. A notable departure for the Wildcats is guard Breezie Williams who was fourth in steals in the conference averaging 1.6 per game and 12th in assists averaging 2.3 per game. Expect more of the same from the Wildcats as they look to find their footing in the conference. New Hampshire begins their season at home vs. Worcester State on Monday, Nov. 4.

“I feel like my energy, especially at practice, has been really helpful throughout the summer and then now,” Misier said. “I’m doing better on defense now. I’m learning our defense, so I feel like, with my height and just like my size, I could really bring a strong defensive presence down low in the post.”

Misier has always been tall, and this was a huge factor in her decision to start playing basketball. She began in sixth grade and grew as a player in high school. She finished high school with 1,555 points, 1,200 rebounds and 293 blocks and averaged 23.6 points and 13.6 rebounds per game as a senior. Her consistent play led her to be named the 2024 Colonial Valley Conference Player of the Year. Misier was also named to the Jersey Zone All-Area Team as a senior and was chosen All-CVC twice during her career. She is looking forward to building on this success as she enters her first season as a Bearcat.

“I would just say the speed of the game is very different from high school,” Misier said. “For me, I just have to get faster and stronger. I feel like throughout the past few weeks I have seen an improvement in the weight room and also on the court with getting faster. It’s just like a big improvement and a big step.”

Like many freshmen, Misier has been taking time to adjust to the new environment and is trying to learn from her teammates and coaches as she goes. As a freshman, it is unknown what her role will be, but she is excited to get started and continue to grow as a player as she improves.

“I would say [it has been] a little bit of a tough transition just from high school to college,” Misier said. “The level that we’re at is very different but my teammates and coaches have been very helpful with the transition. I really love Binghamton. I love the community here. I love my teammates, my coaches. Every day I feel like I get better, and I’m being supported by everyone, and I really love the academics here as well.”

Misier’s goal, like her teammates and coaches, is to win the America East championship. She continues to push herself as a player, so she can help the team get there. The support from her teammates has helped her work towards this goal and given her the motivation as she continues to contribute on and off the court.

“We want to win the America East, that’s like our biggest goal,” Misier said “[We also want to] just always support each other on the court, get better as a team and continue just to push each other at practice, so when games do come we are succeeding in the best way.”

“Overall, I feel like the team is really coming together and we’re in great shape going into the [America East (AE)] conference meet,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson.

On Thursday, two Bearcats traveled to compete in the Penn Relays. Facing an impressive field of competition, redshirt freshman Brian Luciano captured silver in the men’s hammer throw with a distance of 200-9. Senior Gianna Hoose also competed at the meet, finishing 14th in the women’s hammer throw with a distance of 159-5.

“[Luciano’s] season has been really good and with consistency comes big performances,” Thompson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the really big performance that he still has in him because he has been very consistent.”

On Friday, the Bearcats headed to Jacksonville, Florida, where they competed in the East Coast Relays through Saturday. On the men’s side, senior Marcus Johnson finished seventh in the 400m hurdles and crossed the line in 52.42. Then, in the 4x400m relay, BU took fifth with a time of 3:12.62 from senior Oliver Madariaga and junior Joey Cardascia, as well as sophomore Samson Joseph and Johnson. On the women’s side, in the 4x100m relays, Binghamton finished 13th with a time of 46.36 from graduate students Gabby Hyatt and Sophia Morone, sophomore Angie Mesa-Espinosa and freshman Tatum Norris.

“That was a good time for [men’s 4x400m relay team],” Thompson said. “I think they can run a couple of seconds faster but it was great to see them run really well. They’re in great shape, right now.”

On Sunday, BU competed at the Big Red Invitational, where several Bearcats recorded podium finishes. Three Bearcats took home gold medals — junior Lucciana Robertson won the high jump with a distance of 5-7 1/4 and freshman Vicky Mordvinova won the 800m with a time of 2:16.55. On the men’s side, freshman Nate David won the men’s 200m with a time of 22.14.

“I was really happy with how everyone performed at Cornell today,” Thompson said. “I was especially happy with my women in the long jump. The potential that they have showed up today and I’m looking forward to seeing them take it to an even higher level at the conference meeting this coming weekend.”

On the men’s side, two Bearcats rounded the top three of the 200m, as senior Taiki Hirooka and sophomore Kevin Smith finished second and third in the race with times of 22.15 and 22.90. The Bearcats struggled in the 110m hurdles and the 100m. In the 110m hurdles Freshmen Angelo Confort and Christian Primavera, finished seventh and eighth out of eight with distances of 15.11 and 15.62. Next, in the 100m, three Bearcats finished back-to-back in sixth, seventh, and eighth place in an eight-man race. This was done by David, Hirooka and Smith who recorded 10.86, 10.92 and 11.09 times respectively.

“I was really happy with the sprinters on the men’s side,” Thompson said. “I thought they continued what has been really solid season for them.”

On the women’s side, in the 4×100, Binghamton’s relay team of seniors Penelope Paldino, Jessica Faustin, Caroline Fatta and Emily Gorczynski finished second. Next, Hoose captured the bronze medal in the discus throw with a distance of 128-5. Hoose also placed fifth in the hammer throw with a distance of 161-5. In the 100m freshmen Kaylen Tenemille and Ashlyn Rattray finished fourth and fifth with times of 12.32 and 12.43. In the shot put was freshman Deborah Estabine, who finished fifth with a distance of 40-6 ¾. Junior Jessica Prentice finished fifth in the 400m with a time of 59.80 and then third in the 200m with 25.41. In the 200m freshman Kaya Duran placed fourth with a time of 25.65 and Rattray placed fifth with 26.02.

“I’m happy with everyone, at this point there’s really nothing to work on,” Thompson said. “All the work has been done in the previous nine months and it’s just a matter of having a nice easy week of training and going into the conference meet feeling refreshed and ready to go.”

The Bearcats are set to compete in the AE Championships starting on Saturday, May 4. First event is set for 10 a.m. at UMBC stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

Over the weekend, the Binghamton track and field teams competed in the Virginia Challenge and the Bucknell Team Challenge and, despite no team scoring in Virginia, the women’s team captured a second place finish while the men’s team finished fourth at Bucknell. Overall, the Bearcats earned five first-place finishes.

“I thought it was a great meet,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “It’s nice to see people starting to really perform well as we get a couple weeks from the conference meet, which is our ultimate goal, so I was very happy with how they did.”

At the Bucknell Team Challenge, Binghamton captured five first-place finishes. Redshirt freshman Brian Luciano captured the gold in the hammer throw with a distance of 209-2 — breaking his own school record. Junior Lucciana Robertson in the high jump with a leap of 5-4.5. Graduate students Gabby Hyatt and Sophia Morone, sophomore Angie Mesa-Espinosa and freshman Tatum Norris in the 4×100 race. Senior Jenna Chan continued her success in the 100 hurdles with a distance of 13.69 and graduate student Mark Scanlon in the 800m race.

“[Luciano] in the hammer throw was another huge throw for him,” Thompson said. “He’s really firing on all cylinders right now. The women’s 4×100 ran very well. They’re really close to breaking the school record so it would not surprise me to see that happen at the conference meet in a couple of weeks. The hurdles went really well, and the hurdlers are running great.

On the men’s side, freshman Jose Iraola-Ceely finished fourth in the hammer throw with a distance of 166-2. In the high jump, sophomore Matthew Oluwole finished fifth with a leap of 6-2. Then in the 3000m steeplechase, sophomore Andrew Rosenblatt captured a bronze medal with a time of 9:29.12. Two Bearcats finished back-to-back in the 100m hurdles, earning second and third — graduate student Adrian Rippstein, with a time of 14.84 and freshman Angelo Confort, with a time of 14.85. Junior Oliver Madariaga had a time of 48.57 in the 400m, good enough for second. Sophomore Samson Joseph also had a second-place finish in the 100m with a time of 10.64. Lastly, In the long jump was freshman Putu Sutayasa, who finished third with a distance of 23-3.5.

“I thought the sprinters did very well,” Thompson said. “[Sutayasa] in the men’s long jump, that was, he had two jumps over 23 feet which was huge for him, he’s been consistent all year but he hadn’t hit a big jump yet so it was exciting to see him do that.”

On the women’s side, other notable finishes included Norris, who also competed in the pole vault, finishing third with a distance of 11-5.75. In the hammer throw, senior Gianna Hoose captured the silver medal with a distance of 167-8. Additionally, BU secured second, third, fourth and fifth place in the 100m race. Junior Zoe Rose took third in the 800m race with a time of 2:17.59. Finishing second In the 400m hurdles was senior Penelope Paldino, who crossed the line in 1:05.09. Finally, fifth-year Kyra Guerci competed in the 5000m and captured third with a time of 18:18.37.

“The sprinters and hurdlers have had a really good year as a whole, the group as a whole,” Thompson said. “I feel like Bucknell was about as good as any of the meets we’ve had so far, so that was nice to see.”

Facing an incredible field of competition at the Virginia Challenge, senior Josh Stone’s performance highlighted the meet for BU as he finished fourth in the 10,000m race with a time of 28:54.10 — breaking his own school record.

“That was a huge run for [Stone] — breaking 29 minutes,” Thompson said. “That mark should get him into the regional championships at the end of May which I know is a goal of his.”

The Bearcats will split into two groups to compete at the Penn Relays and East Coast Relays, respectively, from Friday, April 26 to Saturday, April 27. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Binghamton women’s softball team continued their America East (AE) conference play, sweeping Maine in a three-game set this past week. Then, on Wednesday, the Bearcats took on UMass Lowell in a doubleheader, winning both games.

”It was a long weekend trying to beat the weather,” wrote Binghamton head coach Jess Bump. “I was happy with how the girls stayed focused during an abnormal schedule of playing Sunday [and] Monday.”

On Sunday, BU’s (27-10, 9-2 AE) first game against Maine (3-29, 1-11 AE) saw a pitcher’s duel. Binghamton put two runs on the board in the first inning, courtesy of a two-RBI double from sophomore pitcher Brianna Roberts. Roberts then shut the Black Bears down on the mound for the rest of the game, spinning a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts as Binghamton won 2-0.

“[Roberts] has been locked in and in attack mode on both sides of the ball,” Bump wrote. “She is a confident player and has an extra heat that she gets into. We’ve been very happy with how she’s playing, and I love seeing her compete.”

In the second game of the series, Maine struck first with three runs in the top of the third. Binghamton came right back in the bottom of the inning, exploding for seven runs off of five hits. The Bearcats tacked on two runs in the fourth and three runs in the sixth, while holding the Black Bears to just two more runs the rest of the way. Binghamton would go on to win 12-5.

“We are definitely a team that rides on momentum,” Bump wrote. “We can have big innings at any point in the game, and after we scored we relaxed a little and finished the game strong.”

The series finale saw a low-scoring affair, as the Bearcats completed the sweep with a 3-0 victory. Senior pitcher Allison L’Amoreaux went the distance, shutting the Black Bears out once again. She gave up just three hits and struck out 10 in seven innings of work. BU’s offense came in the third inning when L’Amoreaux also mashed a two-run home run to go along with her sparkling performance on the mound, and freshman utility Maddy Dodig tacked on an RBI single.

“[L’Amoreaux] is riding high right now and truly just having fun finishing up her career,” Bump wrote. “She’s an electric player to watch and has a great presence right now on both sides of the ball.”

On Wednesday, BU traveled to UMass Lowell to take on the River Hawks in a doubleheader. Neither team accomplished much in the first two innings, but the Bearcats got on the scoreboard in the top of the third with a grand slam from L’Amoreaux. Despite a late comeback by the River Hawks in the seventh — where they plated two — Binghamton held on for a 4-2 victory.

“We just told the girls to go out there and lock in the game,” Bump wrote. “[UMass Lowell] had the two-run home run with two outs, but we responded well and induced a groundout to close it out.”

To start the second game of the doubleheader, UMass Lowell opened up the scoring with a run in the first inning. After the next four innings remained scoreless, BU plated three runs in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. The River Hawks would respond in the bottom of the sixth with two runs, evening the score at 3-3.

“We put the ball in play harder and made them make a few mistakes,” Bump wrote. “Lowell tied the game and then [senior utility Shelby Carvalho] had the big blow and then [sophomore pitcher Olivia Kennedy] finished the game strong in the seventh.”

Carvalho gave the Bearcats a one-run lead with a solo home run in the seventh inning. Kennedy held the River Hawks scoreless in the bottom of the inning to secure the 4-3 victory for Binghamton. With the win, Binghamton extended its winning streak to 12 games.

“We are a tough team to play right now,” Bump wrote. “Our depth is overly impressive and the girls are competing and supporting each other like we never have before. It’s been fun to watch from a coach’s perspective and I’m excited to see how we finish off this last half of conference play.”

The Bearcats will travel to UAlbany for a three-game series starting on Saturday, April 20. First pitch is at a time to be decided at UAlbany Field in Albany, New York.

After forging a comeback 10-9 victory against Vermont last week, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team returned home on Saturday afternoon and recorded a dominant 23-4 against Youngstown State to finish its nonconference slate. The Bearcats came out of the gates firing, capturing the first six goals of the game in the first six minutes and leading 10-1 at the end of the first quarter. After this point, the Bearcats did not look back, scoring 13 more goals down the stretch to earn the victory.

“I think that our focus heading into this week [was] to dictate the tempo,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “The last couple of games, we’ve had to play from behind and we talked about this being a game that we really wanted to get a fast start and, you know, start playing in a way that teams had to play catch-up to us.”

Binghamton (7-6, 2-1 AE) started strong, getting the first goal of the game only 20 seconds in, courtesy of senior attack Madison Murphy. Following the first goal, the Bearcats then scored five more within a six-minute frame. This came courtesy of two goals from junior attack Olivia Muscolino, and one each from sophomore midfielder Emma Blloshmi, senior attack Gabriella Meli and Murphy once again. Youngstown (0-13, 0-3) got on the board at the 7:22 mark in the period. Soon after this goal, though, Binghamton went on a four-goal run in two minutes to take a 10-1 lead going into the second period.

“I thought today was really strong in execution on both sides of the ball,” Allen said. “[I’m] just proud of our team. [We] had some players that got in the game today that really stepped up and owned the opportunity and was excited to see them excel.”

In the second quarter, the Bearcats’ offense did not slow, exploding for seven more goals in the period. On the other end of the field, Binghamton’s defense continued to put the pressure on, holding Youngstown State scoreless throughout the period. Going into halftime, the Bearcats led 17-1.

Youngstown controlled the draw at the start of the third quarter, but BU quickly gained possession back. The ball found sophomore attack Jess Robinson, who passed it to sophomore attack Carla Curth, who found twine. Only a few minutes after this goal, the ball made its way to Murphy, who then scored her fifth goal of the game. The Penguins then made their way to the net, getting on the board once again for the first time since the first period. Blloshimi scored the final goal of the period to give BU a commanding 20-2 lead heading into the final period.

“I think it’s just really important to have those opportunities where players can learn from live game situations and face somebody that they’re not familiar with,” Allen said. “That’s when the adjustments have to be made, and I thought everyone did a really great job with that today.”

As the Bearcats entered the last 15 minutes of play, sophomore goalie Cheyanne Carson-Banister entered the game for senior goalie Sofia Salgado. Once again, BU came out early in the fourth quarter as Muscolino scored her fourth goal of the game. The Penguins then captured the next two points of the game, making the score 21-4. Binghamton controlled much of the remaining minutes of the match, with the ball finding freshman midfielder Keira Bauer, who found the back of the net for her first career goal. With 44 seconds left, Curth capped off the decisive 23-4 win for BU with one final goal.

“It was super exciting,” Allen said. “[Bauer] came out and played two different quarters for us on the draw as well [and] I thought she did exceptional. But to see her have that first goal in her career was pretty exciting.”

The Bearcats will resume AE play at home as it is set to take on UNH this Saturday, April 13. First draw control is set for 11 a.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

In the mid of a four-game losing streak, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team righted the ship and picked up its first victory of America East (AE) play with a 14-9 win over UMass Lowell. Despite entering halftime down 7-5, the Bearcats went on a nine-goal run, stemming from the end of the second quarter to third quarter, to come out on top over the River Hawks.

“I’m just really proud of this team,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “We’re a resilient group. So it was exciting to see them really battle with each other today — battle for each other — and when they put their minds to something, the sky’s the limit.”

The Bearcats (5-6, 1-1 AE) opened up the match with the first two goals, both of which were free position goals from the first sophomore midfielder Emma Blloshmi and senior attack Madison Murphy. UMass Lowell (8-2, 0-1 AE) responded with two straight goals of its own to knot things at 2-2. After a goal from junior attack Olivia Muscolino to give BU the lead once again, the River Hawks scored three goals to take a 5-2 lead at the end of one quarter.

“We had to take on a different perspective,” Allen said. “We were playing a little fearful in the beginning and maybe afraid to turn over the ball. We told them at this point in time, turnovers are going to happen — it’s going to be a sloppy day out there.”

The River Hawks scored the first two goals of the second quarter to extend their lead to 7-3. Eventually at the 6:19 mark, BU got back on the board as senior midfielder Kristen Scheidel and another from Blloshmi each found twine to make it a 7-5 game. The final 5:16 of the period saw no more scores as Binghamton trailed 7-5 going into halftime.

“I think obviously, the end of that first half, being a man up and then starting with possession of the ball, we just kind of had that weight lifted off of our shoulders,” Allen said.

The Bearcats outscored the River Hawks 7-0 in the third quarter to make it nine unanswered goals stemming from the end of the quarter. To start the quarter, BU scored four goals in four minutes with two goals from sophomore attack Carla Curth, a goal from Murphy and a goal from Scheidel take a 9-7 advantage. Later in the frame, Blloshmi found the back of the net and Murphy scored two goals to cushion BU’s lead at 12-7. The Binghamton offense held UMass Lowell to zero goals in the period to go into the fourth quarter with a 12-7 lead.

“Knowing we were going to have the possession, to begin with [and] rattling off those first couple in the second half, I think were huge momentum boosts and confidence builders for us,” Allen said.

The River Hawks stopped the bleeding with a goal at the 8:54 mark in the fourth quarter as Binghamton still led 12-8. The contest then went back and forth, with UMass Lowell and Binghamton trading goals. Blloshmi scored BU’s final goal of the match and as the clock winded down, Binghamton held its lead for a 14-9 comeback win.

“We’ve really got to value what we can,” Allen said. “We’ve got to battle for 50/50 balls on the ground, and we just got to buckle down on both ends of the field, defensively and offensively.”

The Bearcats will continue AE play against Vermont on Saturday, March 30. First draw control is set for 11 a.m. at Virtue Field in Burlington, Vermont.

In the mid of a two-game losing streak, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s skid extended to three games with a 15-7 loss against Cornell at home. The Bearcats trailed early on as the Big Red jumped out to a quick lead with two goals in the first two minutes. The visitors retained this lead the rest of the way to come out on top against BU.

“I thought today we certainly took a little more time off the clock, but we were being more conservative and more strategic with our clear patterns [and] clear strategy,” said Binghamton head coach Stephanie Allen. “It was a little bit of an issue for us in our game versus Niagara over the weekend.”

The contest started with Cornell (5-1) winning the first draw control and quickly scoring back-to-back goals in the first two minutes. Binghamton (4-5) responded when a turnover from Cornell resulted in BU succeeding in clearing the ball and transitioning into its offensive end. Junior attack Olivia Muscolino found the back of the net to give the Bearcats their lone score of the quarter. Meanwhile, the Big Red netted three more goals to take a 5-1 after the first quarter.

“I thought we did a much better job of being patient,” Allen said. “We maintained and had a successful clear percentage today.”

In the second quarter, Cornell picked up where it left off, controlling the first draw control resulting in the Big Red scoring their sixth goal only a minute into the period. Facing a 6-1 deficit, a successful clear attempt by the Bearcats helped them get back on the board as senior midfielder Kristen Scheidel capitalized, scoring BU’s second and only goal in the period. In the remainder of the quarter, the Big Red scored two more goals to take an 8-2 lead going into halftime.

“I think we had to have the will to win out there,” Allen said. “[We can] not be afraid to have those extra possessions offensively and take quality looks. We didn’t have enough shot production in the first half, and that was one of the things we stressed going into the third quarter.”

The Big Red kept the ball rolling to start the third quarter, finding the back of the net after winning the first draw control of the second half for their ninth goal of the game. The Bearcats’ offense came back with back-to-back scores, courtesy of Muscolino and senior attack Madison Murphy to make it 9-4. After both teams traded scores, Cornell strung together a three-goal run to close the quarter, ending the third quarter up 13-5.

“I think you know we hit a few too many pipes today and just had some missed opportunities,” Allen said. ”But we certainly got an increase of shot production in the second half.”

Two goals from Cornell in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter made it a double-digit game at 15-5. Not long after, back-to-back BU goals, courtesy of sophomore attack Carla Curth and Muscolino, who secured her third hat trick of the year, cut the Big Red lead to 15-7. The final 9:06 of the game remained scoreless as Cornell maintained its advantage to deliver the Bearcats’ fifth loss of the year.

“I think we finished much better than we started today,” Allen said. “We had to make some adjustments. We’ve got some personnel that was not in the mix for us today, and so some players playing out of position. I thought over the course of the game they made some good adjustments, but we’ve got to make them a little bit quicker and, you know, recognize things a little bit earlier in competition, so it doesn’t become repeated mistakes.”

The Bearcats will hit the road to open America East (AE) play as it takes on Albany on Saturday, March 16. First draw control is set for 2 p.m. at the John Fallon Field in Albany, New York.

“This [was] as close to a tournament game as you can get,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “I think it was a really good test for us moving forward to get to March.”

Binghamton (13-16, 8-8 AE) and UNH (9-20, 3-13 AE) traded baskets to open the game with graduate student guard Denai Bowman laying the ball in to give the visitors their first points of the game. With the game tied at four, the Wildcats scored four more points before the Bearcats could score again to take an 8-4 lead. For the rest of the period, both teams continued to exchange buckets as a three-pointer from sophomore guard/forward Camryn Fauria gave BU a 14-13 lead at the end of the first.

“You can’t give teams extra opportunities, and we gave [UNH] too many extra opportunities,” Shapiro Ord said.

Going into the second quarter, the Bearcats extended their lead with a 5-0 run to make it 19-13, courtesy of a three-pointer from freshman guard Bella Pucci and a layup from sophomore guard Meghan Casey. However, the Wildcats kept things close, responding with a 6-0 run of its own, tying the score at 19. The lead then flipped between the Bearcats and Wildcats, with the visitors ultimately grabbing a slight advantage for the final four minutes of the half. With the clock winding down, a UNH basket cut BU’s lead to 29-28 going into halftime.

“We just laid it out there and kept battling and battling,” Shapiro Ord said. “It definitely was a gritty, gritty win and anytime you can win on the road, it’s great.”

Coming out of halftime, the Wildcats regained the lead early in the third quarter at 33-29 with a 5-0 run. Despite relinquishing their lead, the Bearcats tied things at 33 after redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer drained two free throws. With several lead changes, the back and forth nature of the game continued for the rest of the period as a Bowman jumper tied the game at 41 going into the fourth quarter.

“We just talked about adjustments,” Shapiro Ord said. “Adjustments were rebounding, [and] adjustments were take care of the basketball.”

Fauria gave BU a 43-41 lead just 18 seconds in the quarter. After the Wildcats tied the game at 43, the tides began to turn with the Bearcats’ offense going on a 13-4 run to take a 57-49 lead. Binghamton maintained this lead, holding off UNH for just long enough. With junior forward Genevieve Coleman knocking down four free throws in the final minute to put the visitors up by 10, icing the game for good, BU captured a 65-56 victory to finish conference play.

“We just have to focus on us and focus on playing our hearts out,” Shapiro Ord said.

Leading the way in points was Coleman with 18 and Bowman with 16. The Bearcats held the Wildcats to 4-of-20 shooting from the field in the final period, while shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the field in the fourth quarter, to cushion its lead and escape with the victory. Heading into the AE playoffs, Shapiro Ord is confident that her team is peaking at the right time, heading into the AE tournament.

“I think we’re playing our best basketball right now,” Shapiro Ord said. “That’s what you want.”

Binghamton will hit the road once again in preparation for its AE quarterfinal matchup against Bryant on Friday, March 8. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Chase Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Coming off a blowout win against UMass Lowell, the Binghamton women’s basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 57-51 loss to Maine on Thursday night. With both teams getting off to a slow start in the first quarter, a strong second and third quarter from the Black Bears gave them the edge. Despite the visiting Bearcats’ late comeback in the fourth period, it was too little, too late as Maine came out victorious.

“We need to work on rebounding,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “We need to work on being more aggressive in the offensive end and really moving the ball, really trying to get downhill.”

The first few minutes started off slow for both BU [12-16, 7-8 America East (AE)] and Maine (20-9, 13-2 AE). Ultimately, it would be redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer, who scored the first six points of the game, draining two three-pointers for the Bearcats. The Black Bears were held scoreless until the 4:36 mark in the first period, getting on the board with a free throw to make it 6-1. Neither Maine nor BU generated much in the first quarter, totaling 14 points between the two teams. The first 10 minutes of play ended with a score of 8-6 in Binghamton’s favor.

“I think we really had some missed opportunities,” Shapiro Ord said. “They out-rebounded us by like 16 or 17, which is not good,”

The Bearcats kicked off the scoring in the second period as freshman forward Kendall Bennett made a jump shot to make it 10-6. The Black Bears responded with a 9-0 run to take a 15-10 lead. After trading baskets, BU was able to tie the game at 17 after redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz knocked down a jumper, but Maine then went on a seven-point run to regain the lead at 24-17. Sophomore guard Meghan Casey layed one in with four seconds left in the half, to cut the Black Bears’ lead to 24-19 going into halftime.

“A team like that, you can’t do [that],” Shapiro Ord said. “You can’t give them so many second chance opportunities. You’ve got to come up with those [rebounds].”

Maine opened up the second half with a seven-point uninterrupted run to take a 13-point lead at 32-19. Weltz then made a free throw and layup which led to a 10-0 run from the Bearcats in response, helping them get within two points as the Black Bears still led 32-30. After the momentum shifted back to Maine, the Black Bears ended the period on a 7-0 run take a 42-32 lead going into the fourth quarter of play.

“[Maine has] really good three-point shooters, and they did a good job getting to the rim,” Shapiro Ord said. “[Maine was] getting fouls calls on them so that they were able to get to the free throw line, where we didn’t as much … We didn’t make our free throws like we typically do.”

Maine extended its lead at 46-32 after scoring the first four points of the fourth period. The Bearcats stayed within striking distance with 7-2 run — thanks to baskets from graduate student guard Denai Bowman and Wanzer — to make it a nine-point game with just under six minutes remaining. BU cut the Maine lead to five with 40 seconds to go with Bennett laying on in. However, this was the closest the Bearcats would get, as the Black Bears held onto their lead for a 57-51 victory.

“They out-rebounded us 46 to 28,” Shapiro Ord said. “That’s tough, and them having seven-second chance opportunities, that’s like 14 points right there,”

Leading the way in points was Wanzer with 14. Right behind her was Bowman with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Also, with 1,476 points scored throughout her career, Bowman is now tied with Kai Moon for fifth place in program history.

“I’m watching the game right now, our game, just to see what we need to do better,” Shapiro Ord said. “We’re on the bus right now heading to [UNH]. We have an early morning practice, and we’ll just regroup. It’s a big game. We got to handle our business and make sure we come out on top for this one.”

Binghamton took on UNH in its final AE regular season matchup on Saturday, March 2. Tipoff was set for 1 p.m. at the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.

After beating NJIT 68-48 last weekend, the Binghamton women’s basketball team continued America East (AE) conference play at home against UMass Lowell on Thursday night, winning 79-48. The Bearcats captured the lead early into the first half, and their defense never gave the River Hawks a chance to catch up. The second half saw much of the same with Binghamton continuing to advance its lead, winning by a 31-point margin.

“They worked really, really hard on the defensive end, so we had a lot of opportunities on the offensive end,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord.

Binghamton (12-15, 7-7 AE) got on the board first, scoring first five points of the game off a jump shot from graduate student guard Denai Bowman and a three-pointer from redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer. The River Hawks (4-21, 4-9 AE) responded with two points of their own, but those would be the only two points that BU would surrender up until the three-minute mark of the first quarter. The Bearcats then went on a 14-point uninterrupted run before UMass Lowell could score. Despite a few baskets from the River Hawks, BU ultimately remained in control, ending the quarter up 22-10.

“Offensively, we weren’t really sharing, like we were trying to do too much one-on-one, and we needed to keep moving the ball and sharing the basketball to get not good shots, but great shots,” Shapiro Ord said.

The Bearcats continued much of what they were able to do in the first period, maintaining their momentum with a 6-0 run to go up 28-10. UMass Lowell then made a layup to stop the bleeding. Both teams exchanged points for the majority of the quarter, with the River Hawks cutting into the BU lead, making it 35-25 with just over a minute remaining. A free throw from redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz put BU up 36-25 going into the second half.

“When [Wanzer and Bowman] were open, it was some tough defense on UMass Lowell’s part, but they took care of business and took their shots that they [knew] that they could score,” Shapiro Ord said.

The River Hawks came out early in the third quarter, getting on the board first, but BU quickly responded right after, with Bowman completing a three-point play to give BU a 39-27 lead. Soon after, a three-pointer from Wanzer put the Bearcats up by 15 points. Binghamton shut down any sign of a comeback from UMass Lowell, outscoring the visitors 25-11 in the period and leading 61-36 going into the fourth quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Bearcats stayed in control, maintaining a significant double-digit lead with baskets from sophomore guard/forward Camryn Fauria, Bowman and Weltz to make it 69-43. BU continued to score at will, extending its lead over the River Hawks. When it was all said and done, the Bearcats came out with a 79-48 win — its largest margin of victory in AE play.

“They just realized ‘Hey, we got to get stops,’” Shapiro Ord said. “When we get stops, we’ll be able to have more opportunities on the offensive end, and who doesn’t want to play offense and who doesn’t want to score points? So I think that was the big part of it.”

Leading the way for Binghamton on offense was Bowman with 21 points and Wanzer right behind her with 20. BU shot 46 percent from the field and held UMass Lowell to just 35.3 percent shooting in the matchup. With two games to go in AE play, the Bearcats will look to close out the season strong for the chance to host a home playoff game.

“We’re going to take one game at a time,” Shapiro Ord said. “There’s still two very good teams, and we’re on the road. We’re going to have to be 10 points better. We’ve got to come up with more stops, [and] we got to come up with more rebounds.”

With two AE conference games remaining, Binghamton will go back on the road to take on Maine on Thursday, Feb. 29. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.

“It’s the end of the year so, we’re in a hunt right now for [America East (AE)] conference tournament seeding and obviously wins,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “We got to just worry about one game at a time, and I was really proud that they did that.”

Binghamton (10-15, 5-7 AE) started off hot, getting on the board first with two layups from junior forward Genevieve Coleman and graduate student guard Denai Bowman to give BU a 4-0 lead. UMBC (8-16, 4-8 AE) responded, quickly knotting the game at four. However, BU created some separation, going on a 6-0 run to make it 10-4. The remaining minutes of the first quarter saw both teams exchange baskets with the Bearcats leading 15-13 after the first ten minutes of play.

“Basketball is a game of runs, and the girls just kept attacking,” Shapiro Ord said. “They didn’t let [up], they just kept their composure and they just kept battling.”

Binghamton got on the board first in the second quarter after freshman forward Kendall Bennett made a layup that gave BU a four-point lead over UMBC. The Retrievers stayed in it, finding ways to score to keep the score close. Not long after, another layup from Bennett helped the Bearcats gave BU a 19-15 lead. The Bearcats held most of the momentum, keeping UMBC’s offense at bay, as a layup from freshman guard Bella Pucci with 22 seconds left in the period gave Binghamton a 32-24 lead going into halftime.

“We had a big shot or we got a couple,” Shapiro Ord said. “We got some stops, and we did a really good job of getting involved in the paint. We got 32 points in the paint which was great.”

BU wasted no time as redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz built BU’s lead to double digits at 34-24 after quickly scoring a layup. For the next few minutes, both teams were held scoreless. With just over six minutes remaining, UMBC ended the scoring drought to make it a 34-27 game. As the period went on, Binghamton continued to maintain its lead with buckets from sophomore forward/guard Camryn Fauria and sophomore guard Meghan Casey. Going into the final period, the Bearcats held a 43-32 lead.

“We got them to turn it over quite a bit,” Shapiro Ord said. “I think it was really important for that, and I felt that was crucial that we knocked down [shots] and we got some stops.”

The Retrievers cut the BU lead to nine with a quick layup, making it a 43-34 game. After Binghamton was held scoreless for the first 3:19 of the period, Bowman layed one in to extend the lead back to 11. The Retrievers strung together a 7-0 run to close the gap with BU still leading 49-43. However, three free throws from Weltz in the final 30 seconds allowed the Bearcats to hold on just long enough to secure a 52-44 win.

“[We] didn’t give up,” Shapiro Ord said. “They didn’t get down when [UMBC] got close and it’s all about adversity and they overcame [it] this time which is great.”

Coleman led the Bearcats with 16 points. Behind her was Weltz and Bennett with eight. Weltz also had four assists and four steals in the winning effort. As a team, the Bearcats shot 40 percent from the field while holding the Retrievers to just 34 percent shooting from the field.

“[Coleman] did a great job,” Shapiro Ord said. “[UMBC] couldn’t stop her. She did a great job on the floor and playing defense and rebounding. [Coleman] had an assist. She did a really good job. Then I know [Bowman] didn’t score a lot of points. She put her defensive first … that was huge — her blocks and her defense.”

The Bearcats will return home to take on NJIT on Saturday, Feb. 17 as they come closer to the end of AE play. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.

After taking down Vermont 66-57 last Saturday, the Binghamton women’s basketball team hit the road once again to continue America East (AE) play, falling to UAlbany 60-52. The Bearcats held the lead after first half of play. However, it was the third quarter that made the difference as the Great Danes outscored BU 23-10 to take the lead. The Bearcats were unable to recover, dropping the contest 60-52.

“We had some really good defensive stops,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “But then in the second half, we weren’t attacking, you know. They picked up their defense a little bit more and we didn’t attack them.”

The Bearcats (9-14, 4-6 AE) opened up the scoring as junior forward Genevieve Coleman knocked down a jump shot. Graduate student guard Denai Bowman followed that up with a jump shot of her own, giving Binghamton a 4-0 lead. The Great Danes (20-3, 9-1 AE) got on the board themselves with a three-pointer to make the score 4-3. For the next few minutes, the game stayed close between the two teams until UAlbany took the lead, 10-8. Eventually, a layup from redshirt sophomore guard Jayden Weltz knotted it up at 10. For the remainder of the quarter, BU held on to a small lead, going into the second quarter up 15-14.

“You know, offensively, I thought [Coleman] did good,” Shapiro Ord said. “But we were out-rebounded by 32 to 25 and they had second chance opportunities — 16, and we had zero.”

The Great Danes scored five straight points to open the second period, capturing a 19-15 lead three minutes into the period. Coleman quickly answered, knocking down a three-pointer and jumper to give BU a 20-19 lead over UAlbany. Both teams exchanged points until Binghamton was able to go on a 7-0 run in the last five minutes of the quarter — while holding the Great Danes scoreless during that span, ending the half leading 27-21.

“I think offensively [Coleman] did a great job,” Shapiro Ord said. “[Coleman] had a big match up with [UAlbany’s senior guard] Kayla Cooper who I thought she did good with but I think it was a team defense … or rebounding we needed to do a better job.”

Coming out of halftime, Binghamton’s lead was cut to two early on in the period as UAlbany scored four straight points to cut the BU lead to two. Coleman cushioned the Bearcats’ lead, splashing a jump shot, to make it 30-25 BU. However, the Great Danes strung together a 11-0 run to take a 42-35 lead. Bowman stopped the bleeding with a jump shot, but the damage was done as the Bearcats trailed 44-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“We got in some foul trouble, and [Bowman] still had 15 points,” Shapiro Ord said. “But between her and [Coleman] — they only had one rebound. It was [Bowman’s] one rebound.”

Freshman forward Kendall Bennett put BU on the board in the first minute after draining one of two free throws. The Great Danes responded with four straight points to maintain a 10-point lead at 48-38. Baskets were exchanged back and forth, as BU cut the UAlbany lead to single digits at several points in the period. However, when the final buzzer sounded, Binghamton’s comeback came up short as it ended up on the losing side of things, falling 60-52 to the Great Danes.

“[Sophomore guard/forward Camryn Fauria], I thought had a good job, did a good job rebounding and [Bennett] came in and had a good performance too,” Shapiro Ord said. “She had six rebounds and eight points.”

Coleman led the team in points with 17, and right behind her was Bowman with 15. The Bearcats and Great Danes shot at an identical 40.8 percent clip from the field. However, UAlbany held the advantage at the free throw line in the victory, making 15-of-19 while Binghamton knocked down 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.

“We have to put together four quarters,” Shapiro Ord said. “If we can do that, we’ll be okay.”

The Bearcats will continue AE play as they travel to Rhode Island on Saturday, Feb 10. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Chase Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

The Binghamton men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the Sykes & Sabock Challenge in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Despite no team scoring, several Bearcats finished in the top 10 of their respective events with redshirt freshman Brian Luciano, senior Jenna Chan and graduate student Mark Scanlon breaking Binghamton records in their respective events.

“Yeah, we’re definitely in a good place, and today was a really solid day across the board,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “We had good jumpers, good sprinters, good hurdlers, good distance people, good throwers, lot of [personal records], couple school records — a few school records actually.”

Eleven Bearcat men placed in the top 10 of their respective events — with three finishing in first. Luciano finished first in the weight throw with a distance of 66-1.75, breaking his previous school record of 65-5. Junior Joey Cardascia captured a first-place finish in the 500m with a time of 1:03.55, and Scanlon finished first in the 600m with a time of 1:20.02, also breaking the school record of 1:20.56 set back in 2014. Capturing a silver medal was freshman Liam Cody in 600m with a time of 1:23.64.

Senior Brandon Love finished third in the pole vault with a distance of 4.78. In the men’s mile, senior Josh Stone clocked in a time of 4:07.99, secured him a third-place finish. Two runners also finished in fourth in their respective events — junior Jaston Ormsby in the weight throw with a distance of 61-5.5 and sophomore Samson Joseph in the 200m with a time of 22.03. Binghamton also finished in fourth in the men’s 4x400m race with a team composed of junior Oliver Madariaga, Joseph, freshman Logan Hayes and Cardascia — finishing with a time of 3:16.88. Finally, graduate student Ryan Guerci finished sixth in the men’s mile with a time of 4:10.97 and graduate student Adrian Rippstein finished seventh in hurdles with a distance of 8.48.

“Well, the school records were [Luciano] in the weight throw, [Scanlon] in the 600 and [Chan] in the 60 hurdles,” Thompson said. “So yeah, they obviously, they had fantastic days.”

On the women’s side, the Bearcats captured several top-10 finishes. Chan finished first in hurdles with a distance of 8.46, breaking her previous school record of 8.49. Also competing in the 60m hurdles was freshman Dami Modupe, who finished fourth with a distance of 8.66. Junior Lucciana Robertson competed in the high jump, capturing a silver medal with a distance of 1.70.

In the 500m race, junior Hillary Abankwa finished in fifth with a time of 1:13.68. Also capturing a fifth-place finish was Binghamton as a team in the 4×400. Competing for the Bearcats were graduate student Sophia Morone, sophomore Angie Mesa-Espinosa, freshman Kaya Duran and Abankwa. Finally, Duran also competed in the 500m, finishing seventh with a time of 1:16.44.

“[Robertson] in the high jump had a season-best, and I think ties for second best jump all time,” Thompson said. “[Stone] had a great mile, [Ormsby] also had a big PR in the weight throw finishing I believe finishing third, [Modupe] ran a big season best in the 60 hurdles. There were a lot of season bests in PR, so it was good across the board.”

Leaving Penn State with several gold, silver and bronze medals and with one weekend of meets remaining before the America East (AE) conference championships, each meet will help BU prepare in hopes of bringing home a win at the conference championships.

“I think it’s all starting to come together,” said Thompson. “We have one meet now before the conference meet, and I think we’re in a perfect place.”

Binghamton will now compete in two separate meets at Boston University and at the Big Apple Invitational. Each invitational will run from Friday to Saturday, with the first meet at Boston University starting on Friday, Feb. 9. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Boston University Track and Field Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

Coming off a 59-56 loss on Saturday against Maine, the Binghamton women’s basketball team bounced back to earn a 63-58 win in America East (AE) play against NJIT on Thursday in Newark, New Jersey. After falling behind in the first half, the Bearcats were able to complete the comeback in the second half to narrowly defeat the Highlanders.

“We’re going to enjoy a minute here and then we’re gonna get on the bus,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “We know it’s a quick turnaround. We’ll get back late tonight and tomorrow we’ll start focusing on Vermont — or I will start tonight and my staff — and then we’ll have them ready. Hopefully we’ll get it going.”

NJIT (8-13, 0-8 AE) opened the matchup with a 6-0 run before Binghamton (8-13, 3-5 AE) got on the board with a jumper from junior forward Genevieve Coleman. Although the Bearcats struggled offensively in the early moments of the period, scoring only two points through the first five minutes, they were able to find some momentum to catch up to NJIT toward the end of the period with three pointers from redshirt sophomore guard Jadyn Weltz and freshman guard Bella Pucci. The quarter ended with the Highlanders up 17-10.

“They are the same team from last year basically, who beat us twice,” Shapiro Ord said. “We just did a really good job you know back and forth, not putting our head down and just kept going back at them.”

Despite coming from behind, Binghamton looked to flip the contest in its direction. Off an assist from Weltz, freshman forward Kendall Bennett scored two points of the second quarter with a layup. NJIT responded with a three-pointer to make the score 20-12. The Bearcats, then, made a three-point shot of their own, courtesy of redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer to cut the lead to five. For the next couple of minutes, both teams exchanged baskets until Binghamton knotted the game at 24-24. BU cut the Highlanders’ lead to just two with the game at 30-28 going into the halftime.

“The nice thing about early on is I did play a lot of players,” Shapiro Ord said. “They give everything they have and that’s a testament to to all the players that stepped up. We compete every day in practice and that’s why are are able to do this at the end.”

The Bearcats looked to gain the lead in the second half as graduate student guard Denai Bowman made a layup off an assist from Coleman to tie the game. The Highlanders responded, once again, maintaining their lead. The game remained scoreless for the next four minutes as both teams struggled offensively. Both the Bearcats and the Highlanders fought to get the lead in the remaining minutes, with NJIT holding a slight advantage over BU. With 34 seconds remaining, Binghamton tied the game 41, but a free throw from the Highlands gave them a one point lead going into the final period.

The Highlanders entered the fourth quarter with a quick two points. NJIT held its lead for the majority of the last quarter until four minutes were remaining. The game then saw several lead changes and ties before a Weltz three pointer with 33 seconds remaining gave BU a 59-55 lead . With under 30 seconds to go, the Bearcats were able to secure the game at the free throw line as they escaped with a 63-58 win over NJIT.

“Coming up with some big boards and getting a stop [helped us get the win],” Shapiro Ord said. “I told them like ‘you guys can’t keep going back and forth, back and forth’ and then [Weltz] knocked down. She had the confidence to back down that three, it went in, and that was the momentum changer right there.

Bowman had a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards to lead BU. Weltz added 15 points and 6 assists of her own. Though Binghamton only shot 32.4 percent from the field, the Bearcats managed to scrape out the victory on the road over the Highlanders.

“[Bowman] does so much more than just scoring for us,” Shapiro Ord said. “Her defense is incredible. You don’t see all her numbers although she did get a double-double which is great. We had two people with double-doubles. She just does such a good job, and her confidence out there for her teammates helps so much too.”

Binghamton will continue AE play at home on Saturday, Feb. 3 against the University of Vermont. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court in Vestal, New York.

Going 29-18 throughout the year and 13-7 in AE conference play, the Bearcats traveled to Maryland to compete in the AE tournament. No. 2 Binghamton entered the tournament with a first-round bye, slated to face No. 3 Albany. The game was scoreless four innings in until the Great Danes finally got on the board. The Bearcats were unable to respond, losing the matchup 6-0.

Facing elimination, BU went up against No. 6 Maine, the next day. The game went back and forth until the sixth inning when the Black Bears scored three runs to take a 6-3 lead. Despite tacking on a run in the bottom of the inning, Binghamton came up short as its season ended with a 6-4 loss to Maine.

Although the season did not end the way they had hoped, the Bearcats captured several awards and honors. This includes five returning Bearcats that were all-conference selections. Returning is sophomore pitcher Brianna Roberts, who was named Rookie of the Year and to the Second Team All-Conference.

Returning to the team are first team all-conference selections in redshirt junior utility Lindsey Walter and redshirt junior outfielder Brianna Santos. Earning second team all-conference picks and returning to the roster are sophomore infielder Akira Kopec, senior pitcher Allison L’Amoreaux and junior outfielder Laney Harbaugh. Lastly, sophomore pitcher Brianna Roberts, who won AE rookie of the year in 2023, will be at the forefront of the BU pitching staff once again.

BU will start its season on the road against Boston University at the Frank Griffin Classic on Friday, Feb. 9. First pitch is set for 9:30 a.m. at Patricia Wilson Field in Deland, Florida.

The Binghamton men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge — finishing ninth and 14th respectively. In a field featuring 26 teams, several Bearcats finished in the top 10 of their respective events.

“I feel like we’re just on a logical path toward being ready to go at the conference meet in a few weeks,” said Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson. “So, I think everybody is right where they should be.”

Sophomore Alyssa Armitage tied the women’s school record in the pole vault, recording a distance of 12-9.5 feet and placing third in the event. Sophomore Angie Mesa-Espinosa took sixth place in the 60 meter event with a time of 7.83. Also finishing in the top 10 in the 60 meters was freshman Dami Modupe with a time of 7.86 — good enough for eighth place. Graduate students Gabby Hyatt and Sophia Morone also finished in the top 10 with times of 7.89 and 7.90 respectively.

In addition, junior Hillary Abankwa finished fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 56.32. Freshman Alexa Colondona finished in fourth in the Pentathlon 60 meter hurdles with a distance of 9.14 and sophomore Logan Wheeler finished in 10th in the same event with a distance of 9.67. In the Pentathlon high jump, Wheeler also placed second with a distance of 1.58m. The women finished the two-day event tied for 14th overall with a score of 11.

“I think [Armitage] in the pole vault, she had a great day [and senior Brandon Love] also had a very good meet in the pole vault,” Thompson said. “The 400 runners’ men and women did very well — you know, long spears — also in the 200 and 400, [the] runners [did] very well across the board.”

On the men’s side, senior Marcus Johnson competed in the triple jump and placed second with a distance of 48-10.25. In the pole vault, Love placed third with a mark of 16-0.75. Also finishing in third was redshirt freshman Brian Luciano in the weight throw with a distance of 64-11.5 feet. In addition, senior Josh Stone competed in the 3,000 with a time of 8:12.87 and placed seventh. Junior Oliver Madariaga competed in two events and finished in the top 10 in both. Madariaga finished fourth in the 200 with a time of 22.04 and sixth in the 400 with a time of 49.29.

“[Johnson] particularly had a really good meet with his best triple jump in two years and his best 400 in two years, so, he really stood out as well,” Thompson said. “I thought overall it was a pretty solid meet.”

Sophomore Samson Joseph finished eighth in the 200 with a time of 22.16, and junior Joey Cardascia placed 10th with a time of 22.28. Cardascia also placed eighth in the 400 with a time of 49.36, with Johnson behind him in 10th with a time of 49.71. The men finished in ninth overall with a cumulative score of 27.

“Basically, what we do is we build up the training from the first week of practice when we come back through about this upcoming week, and then we’ll start gradually backing off,” Thompson said. “So, that when they get to the conference meet, they’ll not be as tired, and we’ll train a little bit less and with the goal of them feeling better and more recovered when we compete at conference.”

Binghamton will now set its sights on the Sykes and Sabock Challenge, which begins on Saturday, Feb. 3. First event is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Penn State Ashenfelter Track in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Coming off a 70-65 win on the road, the Binghamton women’s basketball team made it two straight, downing UNH 73-63. After a strong start in the first quarter, in which the Bearcats put up 22 points, they kept the momentum to win their second consecutive game in America East (AE) conference play.

“We shared the basketball, we attacked their pressure [and] we attacked their different defenses,” said Binghamton head coach Bethann Shapiro Ord. “We just kept them on their heels instead of letting them, which they typically do — put people on their heels — so I thought we did a nice job with that.”

Binghamton (7-12, 2-4 AE) opened scoring a few seconds after tipoff with a three-pointer from redshirt sophomore guard Ella Wanzer off an assist from junior forward Genevieve Coleman. UNH (8-12, 2-5 AE) quickly responded with a jump shot of its own. BU stayed hot and took control of the remainder of the first with a 10-0 run that made it 18-4. With two minutes remaining, UNH knocked down three jumpers to cut the Bearcats’ lead to 22-13.

“It was a really great team effort, but it was nice to see [Wanzer] have that first shot go in,” Shapiro Ord said. “The whole staff, I don’t know if you saw the bench, but they went pretty nuts over there.”

The Wildcats were the first to get on the board in the second quarter, scoring the first four points. Graduate student guard Denai Bowman stopped the UNH run with a layup to put BU up 24-17. Points were exchanged between the two teams as UNH looked to crawl back into the game. However, Binghamton went on a nine-point run to extend its lead to 35-21. The Bearcats maintained their lead for the rest of the quarter, heading into halftime up 44-28.

“You always have adversity, and it’s how you handle the adversity, and we never give up,” Shapiro Ord said. “This group of young ladies have been tremendous in practice every day, coming in and just battling each other. Whether [it’s] their starters or the backup players, they compete, and that’s what keeps getting us better.”

BU came out strong to start the second half, with a layup by Coleman and another three from Wanzer to take a 49-28 lead. Although the Wildcats made several attempts to get back into the game, the Bearcats stopped them in their tracks — maintaining a double digit lead. The third period ended with Binghamton taking 21-point lead over New Hampshire, with the score at 67-46.

“They are amazing, my point guards,” Coleman said. “I cannot say enough good words about [them]. They find me, and they give me these passes that I don’t even know how the heck get to me sometimes. They played great tonight, finding me at all points of the floor, so I really do appreciate that, and they keep doing that and taking points themselves as well.”

The scoring slowed down to begin the fourth quarter with the UNH getting on the board five minutes in the half. Not long after, freshman guard Kaylee Krysztof drained a three pointer off a pass from sophomore guard Meghan Casey, who had a game-high nine assists to make it a 70-50 game. Then, UNH gained some momentum and went on an eight-point uninterrupted run to make cut the BU lead to 12. However, the Wildcats’ comeback fell short as the Bearcats earned a 73-63 victory.

Wanzer led the team with 24 points and is now ranks eighth all-time in Binghamton program history with 131 three-point field goals. Behind her was Coleman with 19 points. Leading the team in assists was Casey with nine and Weltz with eight. Lastly, sophomore guard/forward Camryn Fauria added a game high eight boards.

“It’s nice to have, knock on wood, pretty much all of us healthy, and they do a really nice job of taking care of each other,” Shapiro Ord said. “It’s a testament to these young ladies that they keep coming in and working really hard.”

The Bearcats will look to keep the ball rolling as they take on Maine on Saturday, Jan. 27. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.