The Buffalo State women’s lacrosse team is better than its record shows at this point in the still-young season. The team’s ability to rally late in games is as important a trait as there is in sports. However, closing games out is just as important, or the potential for a comeback is all but lost.

Nine games in, Buffalo State is still trying to find out who they are as a team. At 3-6 (0-1 SUNYAC), the Bengals are just beginning their in-conference schedule.

“We need to continue to build off of both our mistakes and successes to keep moving this team in the right direction,” said head coach Lindsay Abbott. “We want to continue to put our team in winning and losing situations in practice to help prepare us for tight games in order to secure the win.”

The team is hoping to continue to build chemistry both on and off the field.

“We all genuinely like each other on and off the field and are constantly together,” senior attacker Sarah Lorusso said. “On the field, however, we need to develop more chemistry, especially on offense.”

Buffalo State suffered a close 15-13 loss against SUNYAC rival Potsdam (4-3) in the team’s conference and home opener.

Early on in the game, the Bengals found themselves down 6-2, but was able to erase the four-goal deficit and tie the game at seven with time about to expire in the first half.

The second half started off fast for Buffalo State as they took a controlling 13-10 lead before trailing off and failing to score for the remainder of the game.

Buffalo State failed to reclaim any momentum as Potsdam went on a 5-0 run which included the game winner with only a few minutes to go in the second half to secure the 15-13 victory.

Sophomore attacker Alanna Herne led the team with six goals and an assist against the Bears, but only four players scored.

Herne spoke about playing a full game and eliminating the lapses that other teams have taken advantage of late in games.

“We just really need to focus on playing a complete 60 minutes,” Herne said. “We’ve played some tough teams and we’re in a tough conference, so to compete and to win these close ones, we can’t suffer any lapses.”

Getting everyone involved offensively is an important part of building much-needed chemistry on offense.

The Bengals again outshot their opponent 34-26 and had a 21-8 advantage in draws, however lost the turnover battle 14-13.

Offensive production hasn’t necessarily been the main issue. Buffalo State is third in the SUNYAC in goals scored and have three players in the top ten for goals this year as Herne, Lorusso, and sophomore midfielder Christina Krowel all have over 20 goals (Herne is second in the SUNYAC with 33.)

The defense has often found itself reeling and the team struggles to help sophomore goalkeeper Elyse Stark. The Bengals have given up the most goals in the conference (121). Stark averages the fourth most saves per game this year, but is second last in goals against averaged.

Statistically speaking, Buffalo State is in the middle of the pack, averaging the fifth-most goals in the SUNYAC as well as the second-highest shot percentage. The stat that doesn’t show up on the box score, however, is the ability to hold onto leads and close out games, which is the factor which has done them in most often this season.

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