NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara women's lacrosse team fell to Binghamton in a tight 9-7 contest on Monday afternoon at Niagara Field.

"We started well today, but were unable to limit the unforced errors we made on both ends of the field," head coach Wendy Stone stated. "We need to play cleaner going forward and will work to be better next time out."

Carrie-Jo Farrugia led the Niagara attack with her fourth hat trick of the season finishing with three goals and one assist for four points. Brittany Delano contributed two goals while Erin Patenaude and Cailyn Negus added one goal each. Freshman Grace Hunt also had three helpers in the game.

Sophomore goalie Andrea Francisco started the game for the Purple Eagles, making seven saves before Amanda Yavorek made her appearance.

Niagara (3-6) raced out to a 2-0 advantage until the Bearcats (4-5) responded with their first goal of the game at the 19:49 mark. Patenaude put the Purple Eagles back up, 3-1, however, Binghamton scored the next four goals to take a 5-3 lead. With under a minute to play in the first half, Farrugia scored her second goal of the contest off an assist from Hunt to bring NU back within one (5-4) heading into intermission.

The Bearcats opened the second half with the first goal before Negus found the back of the net for Niagara with 20:38 remaining in the contest. Over the following 12 minutes, Binghamton took its largest lead of the game, 8-5, after two unassisted goals. Niagara responded with two goals in the span of two minutes to make it an 8-7 game with nine minutes left to play. The teams went scoreless over the next six minutes until BU marked the final goal of the game to take home the 9-7 victory.

Binghamton held a 24-22 edge in shots while Niagara controlled 11 draw controls, compared to just seven for the Bearcats.  The Purple Eagles' defense also caused five turnovers, while picking up 15 ground balls. 

The Purple Eagles open up conference play at home this Wednesday, March 23 with a contest against the Monmouth Hawks.  The opening draw control is set for 2 p.m.

Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for in-game updates @NiagaraWLAX. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.