On a rainy Monday night, the Binghamton men’s soccer team traveled to Olean to face St. Bonaventure. Despite holding the Bonnies scoreless through the first 66 minutes, the Bearcats conceded two goals in the final 24 minutes to lose 2-0.

“The outcome didn’t go, but I thought the guys played fairly well today,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “Outside of the goal, I thought we were actually quite good. We created some decent chances in the game. We held possession pretty well.”

The first half started out slow as both BU (0-4) and St. Bonaventure (2-2) were held scoreless. Neither team was able to put a shot on goal in the first half as the Bonnies mustered five shots to the Bearcats’ two. However, in the 38th minute, the Bearcats had a goal that was taken off the board due to an offside call.

“In the first half I thought both teams were trying to feel each other out, maybe a little bit too long,” Marco said. “They were just content playing in front of each other instead of trying to get it behind. Right now that probably is something that our group needs to look at because we train to get in behind. They’re just not.”

Redshirt senior goalkeeper P.J. Parker got the start and kept the Bonnies off the scoreboard for the majority of the match. The Bearcat made two saves in the 90 minutes he played.

The first goal of the game came in the 66th minute when the Bonnies were awarded a corner kick. The cross curved directly in front of the Bearcats’ goal and a perfectly placed header found the back of the net.

“I thought [our defense] was very good,” Marco said. “First goal was a corner. There was a free guy on the back post, so it’s disappointing because there shouldn’t be any free guys in our area.”

Binghamton made consistent efforts to tie the game up after the first goal was scored. The Bearcats accumulated 11 shots over the course of the game, with nine coming in the second half. Redshirt junior midfielder Anthony Lazaridis spearheaded this effort, with four of BU’s shots coming from his foot. In the 68th minute, Lazaridis had an opportunity to score and attempted to put a strike in the bottom right corner to tie the game. However, his attempt was saved by the Bonnies’ goalkeeper to maintain their 1-0 advantage.

“I think our level of concentration when we’re in and around the goal area to score needs to be a little better,” Marco said. “We see it in training. They’re very good in training, so it’s just the weight of the game, perhaps, that’s on their shoulders … Once we realize that we are good enough to get these moments, [that] we are good enough to score goals, I think that they will start coming.”

St. Bonaventure struck again in the 88th minute, as BU had all of its players upfield in an attempt to score a last minute goal. Parker saved the initial shot, but the ball rebounded off of him and the Bonnies fired a second effort into the back of the net.

“The tempo that we played at today was better than [against] Colgate,” Marco said. “We were a little cleaner today even though the conditions were worse because it was pouring rain during the game. Now we have to be more purposeful in the final third of the field. We have to create more scoring chances.”

This loss marks Binghamton’s fourth straight to start the season. Despite starting this season 0-4, Marco said the team knows it can improve.

“The team is dealing with some adversity that you wouldn’t know,” Marco said. “The spirit is still very good in the team, so I think they can see who we can be. Now we have to get it done.”

BU is scheduled to return to action against Niagara on Friday, Sept. 9. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.