After 11 days off to prepare and train, the Binghamton University women’s soccer team is set to begin conference play on Sunday with a matchup at the University of Maine.
The Bearcats went 3-5 in non-conference play this season, while the Black Bears posted a 3-3-1 record. Each team has lost its last two nonconference games 1-0.
Binghamton head coach Sarah McClellan said she likes the effort and determination her team has put forth so far this season and knows the beginning of conference play means a clean slate.
“It’s a new season,” she said. “Everyone is 0-0. So we’re really excited to head out to Maine to get our conference game under our belts.”
The Bearcats have lost five games by a score of 1-0 this season, including three in overtime. Despite the obvious frustration that comes along with close losses, Binghamton has been able to take a lot out of each loss and has remained optimistic heading into conference action.
“It’s frustrating but we’ve allowed five goals in eight games,” McClellan said. “It really says a lot about our team defense. We haven’t really been out of any games this year and so we feel like we have a lot of potential to make the big impact heading into conference and we feel really confident where we’re at right now. We’ve had a lot of training these past 10 days and we’re looking good. We’re really just looking forward.”
Essentially, non-conference play has served as practice for the Bearcats. Though the games are significant, the results have no effect on America East standings.
Over the past two months, they’ve learned the hard way how important it is to make the most of each offensive opportunity they get and how it could ultimately be the difference in a game. With the beginning of conference play, however, the stakes become that much greater.
“It’s a huge deal to start conference play because that’s the most important time of the season and it is what everyone’s been working hard for,” McClellan said. “So our team has its goals that they’re committed to. Our staff has a lot of faith and believes in these players because they really have been working hard and we’re very optimistic that it’s going to pay off for them.”
The Bearcats and Black Bears have had similar seasons thus far. Each team has had all of its matches decided by a small margin and has only been able to string together multiple wins once so far this year. Binghamton has had five goals on 109 shot attempts to Maine’s seven goals on 59 attempts.
The Bearcats will have to be wary of Black Bear senior Carolyne Nellis. The 5-foot-9-inch forward has scored four of Maine’s seven goals this season. Meanwhile, the Bearcats have had five different players score their five goals this season: junior Sarah Furminger, senior AnnMarie Rizzi, junior Brittany Walsh, sophomore Kaitlyn Martin and senior Mary DeWitte.
In their conference battle last year, Binghamton shut out Maine 1-0. But if the Bearcats want to get the victory again this year, they’ve got their work cut out for them. Binghamton is 1-4 on the road this season while the Black Bears are 2-0-1 at home.
“I think we’re not going to really change much of how we play,” McClellan said. “I think we’re playing well so we’re going to go in and play our game. Obviously, it’s never easy playing on the road. And Maine’s a long road trip. So we’ll have to keep our focus and just get out there and play a hard fought game and really stick with our style of play and putting out a good performance and hopefully a good result.”
Kickoff is set for noon on Sunday at Maine’s Alumni Field.