For the second time in as many home games, the Binghamton men’s soccer team is going Hawk hunting.

Coming off a 0-0 tie against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Wednesday, the Bearcats (1-4-3) now prepare to host the Hartwick Hawks (3-3-1) on Saturday at West Gym Field.

This weekend’s game against Hartwick is Binghamton’s second-to-last match before conference play, so Saturday’s affair comes with a tremendous sense of urgency.

“Every game for us is a must-win right now,” said senior captain Kyle Antos. “But I think, more importantly, we just need to get a solid core plan and have some confidence about ourselves.”

Hartwick came into this week of action struggling, but is coming off of a 1-0 overtime victory on the road versus Temple. Both the Bearcats and the Hawks have been coping with the same problem: talented players that have not been able to gel into a cohesive unit.

“They’re probably in a little bit of the same boat that we are in,” said head coach Paul Marco. “That when you drop a game, losing tends to start to breed itself, and then your guys start questioning themselves. I thought [Wednesday] we turned that corner; our guys aren’t questioning themselves anymore if they’re good or not.”

Whether the Bearcats have indeed turned that corner remains to be seen, as they challenge Hartwick’s two excellent senior centerbacks, Tyler Hemming and Adam Mitchinson. Also highlighting a talented roster are forwards sophomore John Paul Boyle, and junior Chris Jackson, who leads the team with four goals.

Sophomore Joe Gibson is in goal and has 23 saves on the season. The Hawks have been out-shot by their opponents this season, albeit barely, at a tally of 76-73.

Jason Stenta, the redshirt freshman goalie who has started the Bearcats’ last three games and posted his first career shutout on Wednesday, will keep his position for now. Junior Ryan Bertoni, the team’s goalie entering the season, will continue to play up front, where he was playing before having to leave early with a broken nose.

It is unknown whether Bertoni will be able to play on Saturday or not, but injuries and the shifting of players to different positions, among other issues, leave the Bearcats still in search of identity.

“[Once we] gain some confidence behind our play, we’ll start to emerge as a special team,” Antos said. “We’re not doing well right now, but we’re not in to the conference yet, and there’s nothing to say that we can’t make a run into this conference.”

The Hawks were ranked fifth by NSCAA/Adidas for the latest North-Atlantic region poll, so they should provide a good non-conference test for the Bearcats. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at West Gym Field.