After two scoreless halves and two scoreless overtime periods, the semifinal playoff game against Maine came down to a shootout, and the Bearcats and senior goalkeeper Jen McEachron prevailed.
This past Sunday, the Binghamton University women’s soccer team hosted the Maine Black Bears for the second round of the America East Conference tournament at the Bearcats Sports Complex. BU came out on top in the penalty kick shootout, 4-2, with the help of a McEachron save, to advance to the tournament finals.
For the Bearcats, the victory was a cause for celebration as they advanced to the AE finals for the first time since 2004, when they won the championship. The team feels good about the gritty win, according to head coach Sarah McClellan.
“I think it is our kids’ mentality,” McClellan said of why she thought her team was able to win the shootout. “We have that tough mentality and we’re confident right now … we have players that are willing to step up and take it on their shoulders and put it away.”
The match started out evenly in the first half. In 45 minutes, only one shot attempt was made by each squad, and play consisted mostly of back-and-forth action between the players.
In the second half things started to heat up, as Binghamton outshot Maine 12-7. However, there were still zeroes across the scoreboard, but not from lack of opportunities; in a span of less than 15 minutes during the second half, eight corner kicks were made, none of them leading to a goal. Of those eight, five were from the Bearcats.
“We were pushing them a little bit harder,” McClellan said about her team in the second half. “We knew that they should be tired … so we were pushing our numbers fast, we were getting the ball forward more. We just couldn’t finish, weren’t able to get the right type of shot to actually get in the back of the net. But we were really pressing hard and had a lot of opportunities. Two of [the corner kicks] were basically cleared off the line, so I think the next corner kick we take is gonna go in.”
Finally, after 20 minutes of deadlocked overtime, the game came down to a penalty kick shootout. The Bearcats needed just four kicks to seal the victory; the first three successful attempts came from junior back Stefani Knopick, freshman midfielder Emily Pape, and sophomore midfielder Mary Dewitte. McEachron made a save on Maine’s second shot, then watched the fourth shooter miss off the post. The clincher was then notched on Binghamton’s fourth shot by senior back and co-captain Nicole Montoya.
“We know going into the shootout that we have really great kickers who would finish the job,” McEachron said. “So I just thought that if there was any way I could make a save or make them mess up then our shooters would finish it.”
Each penalty kick came from a player in a different class, exemplifying the team’s season-long unification process.
“Our young players have stepped up and mixed well with our older players,” McClellan said. “Our veterans have really showed them the ropes, how we want to build our program, and what kind of attitude we want to have, and I couldn’t be more happy with the way everyone has been stepping up.”
Though the Bearcats have passed through their most recent hurdle, they are not in the clear yet by any means. Next Sunday will mark the AE finals, where Binghamton is scheduled to face Boston University yet again for a shot at the title.
The Bearcats have been less then stellar against the Terriers — they are only 1-8 all-time against them, and lost the regular season match 3-0 on Sept. 27. But despite the statistics, McClellan and her team are ready for the challenge.
“Our goal is to get to the championship, and we don’t need any more motivation than that.” McClellan said. “We’re light years away from where we were when we played Boston last time. That was our first conference game and it was a tough conference game to have first with a young team. We were pleased with our performance at Boston, we just didn’t finish and didn’t do well defending in our box, and that’s something that we’ve done a lot better recently so we can’t wait to play them again.”