Binghamton Relishing Underdog Role in History-Making Season

When Stephanie Allen arrived at Binghamton as the top assistant coach in 2007, the fledging, five-year-old program had amassed a 12-61 record. You can count the number of wins the Bearcats won the season before her hiring on one finger, and you only need two fingers to count the program’s victories before she took the reigns as head coach following Tony Zostant’s resignation.

Now, Allen’s most prominent finger will be the one that wears the America East championship ring, which the Bearcats earned Sunday in a 12-11 win over Albany in the conference tournament final.

“Everybody wants instant gratification,” Allen said. “I knew it would be a little bit of a process here. This program started in 2002 and didn’t have a long history of lacrosse. It would take time to build recruiting connections, tradition and a championship mindset in terms of culture. It’s been a long time coming.”

It was a long time coming, indeed. So, too, was the win over Albany, the team that beat Binghamton in last year’s semifinal and had won all 25 meetings between the two schools.

Some teams may not focus on historical records. The Bearcats? They knew Albany had their number and embraced the opportunity to be the team that turned the zero into a one.

“It has been talked about a lot since my freshman year [in 2021], even during COVID,” senior midfielder Hayley Weltner said. “Albany is a great team, and I give them so much credit, but I’m proud of us because we always said that we wanted to be playing great teams. We put in the time and effort. We knew we deserved it.”

Time was something Allen needed to build the Bearcats into a team that could contend with Albany, which was long a power in the America East. The Great Danes have played in 13 straight conference championship games, a streak that began in 2011 — before Allen got her promotion. Binghamton went 7-9 in her first season in 2014, at the time the program’s record for wins, and followed with three straight six-win seasons. Binghamton made its first postseason appearance in 2018 after finishing 8-9 overall and 5-2 in conference play, the first above-.500 AE mark in school history. The Bearcats fell to — you guessed it — Albany in a conference semifinal.

“It’s a grind when you don’t have winning seasons, but you’re trying to keep players motivated and get them to see something that maybe isn’t on paper yet,” Allen said. “It’s having blind faith. It was going to take the right kid who saw our vision and wanted to be a part of growing something and not necessarily stepping into a program with solidified tradition and winning history.”

The blind faith and grind would have to continue through a 2-15 2019 and a pandemic-shortened 2020. The tide turned in 2021 when Weltner and her classmates arrived on campus. The now-senior class also included Madison Murphy and Kristen Scheidel, who sit second and third, respectively, in goals and points this season, and starting goalie Sofia Salgado, who made nine saves in Sunday’s championship game. 

The class arrived on campus under extenuating and uncertain circumstances, getting thrown into college lacrosse without full-team practices and with a schedule that involved playing each conference team twice as COVID-19 raged on. They found a way.

“When we couldn’t have team practices, they were up in front of their dorms outside having stick work sessions,” Allen said. “They were creating ways to get better on their own. I loved that for them. I knew coming back that next season, it was going to be different.”

It was. After missing the conference tournament in 2021, Binghamton returned as the No. 3 seed in 2022. A one-goal loss to eventual champion Vermont gave the group a glimpse of what was possible.

“That switched the mindset and momentum,” Allen said. “Now, we had a taste of what it felt like to be in this environment, and we talked about how we have to learn to handle those pressure situations moving forward.”

Last year, the Bearcats finished above .500 for the first time in program history (12-6) and went 5-1 in conference play (at this point, you likely know where the one loss came from). This time, they beat Vermont for their first-ever postseason win. Albany awaited. The Bearcats led most of the way, but Weltner evened the score at 13 with under five minutes left. Still, Albany prevailed with a 14-13 win, breaking its own hex of nine straight America East title-game losses in the process.

“It ate away at me that entire summer,” Allen said. “We have talked this past week about it being a 365-day preparation for the moment of stepping back into that championship game. I don’t think too many of us went a day or two without thinking about it. I’m sure the players used that as motivation and fuel over the summer as they got themselves prepared to come back to campus this past fall.”

They did, and it showed when the team returned for fall practices.

“I could just kind of see that spark that everybody had,” Weltner said. “Everybody was constantly working hard, academically and athletically.”

Salgado took over the starting goalkeeper position vacated by Emily Manning, the America East Goalkeeper of the Year, who transferred to Stony Brook for her fifth season. But her loss, coupled with that of lefty attacker and leading scorer Kenna Newman, left question marks. The 2023 runner-up Bearcats were picked third in the America East preseason poll.

“Being the underdog definitely was rewarding in the best way possible because I don’t think anybody saw us coming, and they should have,” Weltner said.

There was a singular goal: Win the program’s first conference crown. In an attempt at manifestation and motivation, the coaching staff stuck a photo of the America East trophy next to the locker room. 

“The players have to see it every single time they walk out of that locker room, whether it’s to lift or go to practice or film,” Allen said. “It’s a reminder of what they’re working for. It’s a reminder of what they’re capable of achieving.”

The season was one of streaks. After dropping the first two to Drexel and Temple, the Bearcats won the next four. Then they lost four straight contents. But the Bearcats entered the America East tournament on a six-game winning streak and made it seven with a win over No. 3 UMBC in the semifinals. On their way to the field, Albany was in a close game with No. 4 UMass-Lowell, and Allen had one quick question for her team before continuing their pre-game routine.

“I turned to the seniors, and I asked, ‘Who would you rather have out there?’” Allen said. “They said, ‘We want to have another shot at Albany. We haven’t beaten them our entire college career.’ I said, ‘It’s only fair to get another crack at them before you leave this program.’”

They got their wish, but the Great Danes raced out to a 5-0 first-quarter lead and went in front 8-4 with 1:38 left in the second quarter. Were Allen and the seniors eating their words? Not a chance. The adversity they faced during a season of runs paid off in a game of them.

“We faced some adversity this entire season, whether it was injuries or different things our program was going through,” Allen said. “We’ve stayed calm and collected through all of it. We had a timeout in the first quarter, and just said, ‘There’s so much time left. Take a breath. One of our players said, ‘Everybody smile. We’re OK.’ It put me at ease to hear that they weren’t panicked, either.”

Like her efforts to build Binghamton into a title contender, the comeback took time. But the Bearcats scored the final three goals of the second quarter, all within a 50-second span, and the first five goals of the second half. All told, it was an 8-0 run that gave them a 12-8 advantage. Then, Albany went on a run of their own, scoring three straight and regaining possession when Mackenzie Salentre got the ball from Weltner with 24 seconds left — just in time for the Great Danes to set up one final play to force overtime. 

“I don’t think I was worried,” Weltner said. “I was confident we knew what we needed to do to get that last play. We had each other’s backs the whole way.”

Albany never got a shot off. Binghamton’s D swarmed the Danes, with Angelina Suau causing an Allie Maloney turnover and scooping the ground ball with five seconds left. In a flash, the final buzzer sounded — the team once perennially at the bottom of the America East while rivals Stony Brook (now in the CAA) and Albany played for conference titles now had one of their own. 

“I was in shock,” Weltner said. “I knew we could do it, but getting there was a whole other scenario. I had chills throughout my body …  everyone was gasping for air because of how happy we were.”

That photo of the America East trophy? It can now be replaced with a hard copy. 

“I don’t think there was ever a question that anyone on this roster believed we wouldn’t be there and holding that trophy at the end of the postseason,” Allen said. I’m happy for them and our assistants. We put in the hard work and finally got what I feel like they’ve deserved.”

A date with Yale is next for Binghamton on Friday. The Bearcats will again be the underdogs against the defending Ivy League champion and NCAA tournament’s sixth seed.

“[The NCAA first round] is kind of like free money at the casino,” Allen said. “We’re excited about the opportunity. Yale is incredibly talented and has done a tremendous job this season. We’ve been following them in our free time or when using film of their games with our opponents. I think it’s a good matchup for us. It’s going to be tough, but the confidence that we’re building right now and have built throughout this season puts us in a great position.”

Whenever the season ends, Allen hopes to cash in on the season on the recruiting trail and in the locker room — no longer motivating with blind faith but with concrete proof that Binghamton belongs.

“Now, it’s tradition to win that America East championship,” Allen said. “I’m thankful for this group of seniors who came in. This is what they came here to do: Put this program on the map. They were certainly ready to step up to the challenge and believed before they were even students here.”