With a potential home playoff match hanging in the balance and time running out, the Binghamton University men’s soccer team struck with 4:55 left on the clock in the second sudden-death overtime period to defeat the University of New Hampshire, 1-0, on Senior Night on Saturday at the Bearcats Sports Complex. It was the final America East regular season match for both teams.
The win, combined with the rest of the conference results, earned the Bearcats (5-6-4, 3-2-2 AE) the No. 4 seed in the America East tournament. New Hampshire (7-4-5, 2-3-2 AE) will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
The team’s five seniors ‘ Kyle Manscuk, Matt Ryan, Josh Sailar, Yusuf Yusuf and Scott Zobre ‘ were honored prior to the start of the match. Ironically, it was a rookie that left the biggest mark on the match. Redshirt-freshman Tommy Klim scored his first career goal off a corner from junior and captain Ryan Walter to end the Bearcats’ two-game losing streak. Walter’s assist breaks a tie with sophomore Adam Whitehead for the team lead in assists and points. Walter now has five assists and nine points for the season. Klim was named Co-America East Rookie of the Week, along with Steven Palumbo of New Hampshire.
Binghamton head coach Paul Marco wasn’t overly concerned with who his team would face in the playoffs, but did want to secure a home match in the first round.
‘It was important for us to get the result,’ he said. ‘As far as the standings and where we were going to finish in the playoffs, I don’t think that was that important. We’d love to have a home game, so obviously we wanted to finish in the top-four, but the thought going into the match was for us to play well, stay with the game plan, and I thought through the match we did that.’
Of the goal, Marco explained that the play they ran for the corner kick was something he and his staff conceived just one day prior to the match.
‘We designed that play in training [Friday],’ he said. ‘It was something we were going to hold off until the playoffs, but it worked ‘ we got [Klim] his goal.’
Although he was excited about scoring his first collegiate goal, Klim was quick to admit that the night belonged to the team’s five seniors.
‘The goal felt phenomenal,’ he said. ‘But the whole night was just dedicated to our five seniors who, day in and day out, put their hearts on the field. The win was really for them. The whole night was to honor them, their families and all the work they’ve put in.’
Klim discussed the impact that the seniors have had on him personally.
‘I’m very close with several of the seniors,’ he said. ‘Kyle Manscuk has really helped me progress as a player, and really helped me on and off the field. Yusuf, as well, has been very helpful to me, a lot of advice, talking to me when I need to get my head right before and after games. All of our seniors are great guys. It’s just a pleasure to play with them and it’s a pleasure to be on the same team as them. My heart goes out to them, and I’m glad we got a win for them.’
Marco was pleased that his seniors were able to keep their composure throughout the match and not let the aura of Senior Night affect their play too much.
‘Anytime you have a Senior Night and you honor your guys that have been with you for years, I think that it’s an emotional night for them,’ he said. ‘I think this class handled it very well; they weren’t too emotionally over-the-top.’
The Bearcats outshot the Wildcats 15-3, but New Hampshire didn’t allow the Binghamton offense to get too close to the net very often. Whitehead had several scoring opportunities in the match, and has made plenty of contributions on the offensive end throughout the season, contributing two goals and four helpers, but Marco feels he needs to improve defensively to take the next step.
‘Whitehead is all over the field when we have the ball,’ Marco said. ‘When [the opposition has] the ball, we still would like him to compete a little bit more, to become more of a complete player. If he does that, he has the potential to be one of the best that have played here; he certainly has enough talent. But for him, he needs to be able to play both ways. When we have it he is special, and when they get it we need a little bit more from him. The team I think compensates for that right now, but when we play better teams, they won’t be able to compensate too much. But he certainly is fun to watch.’
Binghamton has a tune-up match before the playoffs get under way, as they are scheduled to host Bucknell University tonight. Marco is hoping to win the match, give a few guys some rest and get his team a good workout. However, he may temper his players’ energy expenditure just a tad so that they are fresh for Saturday’s playoff match. Walter will sit out of the match after accruing his eighth yellow card of the season.
‘I see a few guys playing in that game, I see that game being a competitive game,’ Marco said. ‘I’ve seen Bucknell three times this year, and they’re a very good team. They were at Penn State with us and they beat Penn State. They present some problems that we’ll see, and they’re similar to some of our conference teams. It’s going to be a great match for us; I think it’s perfect in the schedule where we put it.’
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex.