The Binghamton University women’s soccer team fell to Cornell University 1-0 in Wednesday’s non-conference finale, surrendering an early second-half goal after engaging in an evenly matched, scoreless first.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the first half but neither could capitalize. Cornell recorded six shots in the period, only two of which needed to be corralled by sophomore goalkeeper Carrie Martin.
Binghamton seniors AnnMarie Rizzi and Taylor Kucharski, junior Candice Rowland and sophomore Kaitlyn Cook got shots off, but none of them found the net.
Sophomore goalkeeper Stephanie Speirs replaced Martin at the start of the second half. Speirs, who only tallied eight minutes of action as a freshman, had not yet appeared in a game this season, but head coach Sarah McClellan wanted her backup goalie to experience a full half prior to conference play.
Although Speirs played well, Cornell needed less than two minutes of second-half play to notch its only goal, courtesy of junior forward Xandra Hompe. The score was Hompe’s first of the season, and it was unassisted.
Despite the goal, McClellan was satisfied with Speirs’ effort.
“She did a great job for us,” McClellan said. “We’re really pleased that we have [options].”
Leading up to the goal, Cornell broke pressure from Binghamton’s forwards and midfielders to advance the ball toward the Bearcats’ backline. The defense regained possession but Binghamton promptly turned over the ball, leading to a one-on-one between Hompe and Speirs.
“We made a mistake and it cost us a goal,” McClellan said. “It started off with our whole team not committing to locking in the other team from the get-go of the second half.”
Although the Bearcats did not surrender another goal, Cornell seemingly controlled the second half. The Big Red outshot the Bearcats 11-3 and had six corner kicks to Binghamton’s two.
“The stats make it look a little lopsided I think, and I would say of our very few mistakes that we had, Cornell had the same amount of mistakes and the difference was we didn’t capitalize on our chances and they capitalized on theirs,” McClellan said.
Binghamton had three opportunities late in the game. First, Rowland launched a shot with seven minutes remaining, but Cornell senior goalie Kelly Murphy saved it. On a free kick from outside the box with less than four minutes left, freshman Emily Nuss rocketed a shot on goal, but Murphy deflected it. With about three minutes on the clock, Binghamton squandered a corner kick.
“It’s not rocket science — we’ve got to put the ball in the back of the net,” McClellan said. “Opportunities are great, and we’re getting opportunities each game. We’re not finishing them.”
The Bearcats’ second consecutive loss drops their record to 3-5, but perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that all five Binghamton losses have been by the same score of 1-0, with three of those losses having come in overtime.
After falling to reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Siena College in overtime on Sunday, McClellan expressed some frustration at losing by a single goal. This time, though, the fourth-year coach was more positive.
“When we turn the corner in getting the balls in the back of the net on our end of it, I think we’re going to be a pretty tough team to play,” she said. “I think we’re already a tough team to play, but I think once we get into a goal-scoring mentality, I think we’re going to do really well.”
The Bearcats have an 11-day break from game action before travelling to The University of Maine on Sept. 25 for their America East opener. The Black Bears are currently 3-1-1 and have road matches at University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth College prior to their game vs. the Bearcats.
“Now that we’re about to head into conference play, we want the team to have some recovery time,” McClellan said. “Then we’re going to be training and getting lots of reps, working on our attack, continuing to build to get chances, but then really focusing on the finishing aspect.”