After a 10-day hiatus from game action, the Binghamton University women’s soccer team defeated the University of Maine 3-0 in its first America East match of the season.

The Bearcats (4-5, 1-0 America East), who had won just once in their previous five games, scored just over 15 minutes into the first half when junior forward Jamie Holliday converted a pass through Maine’s backline from senior midfielder Taylor Kucharski. The goal was Holliday’s first of the season.

“Jamie made a great run onto that ball and really a fantastic finish,” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said. “She had good composure and beat the keeper on a great strike.”

Aside from that goal, the Bearcats and Black Bears (3-4-1, 0-1 America East) engaged in a relatively even first half on paper. Maine held a 4-3 advantage in shots and both teams notched one corner kick in the opening 45 minutes.

But McClellan seemed hesitant to acknowledge the stats as an accurate representation of her team’s play.

“The first half I suppose was closer than the second half,” she said. “I think we were clearly the better team all over the field and our players really worked hard.”

In the second half, Binghamton came out of the locker room ready to attack. The Bearcats recorded the first four shots of the period before Kucharski scored her first collegiate goal in the 68th minute.

According to McClellan, junior forward Sarah Furminger sent the ball into the box and Kucharski came away with it after it had been loose for a few seconds.

Freshman center back Connie Gormley, who led the BU defense in the team’s shutout (its fourth of the season), also recorded the first goal of her collegiate career on an impressive 45-yard direct kick just over two minutes later. For her performance, she was named America East Rookie of the Week, marking the second time she has earned the honor this season.

The three team goals represent Binghamton’s highest one-game total this season and come on the heels of two consecutive 1-0 losses.

“It’s great to find the back of the net three times,” McClellan said. “They were from all different areas of the field and different positional players.”

Though McClellan was pleased with her team’s offensive output, she thought the Bearcats could have scored two or three more goals in the second half.

“I wouldn’t say we’re overly ecstatic with our output at Maine because I think we could have scored more,” she said. “We’re looking forward to building on that game offensively.”

In addition to the offensive breakout, the Bearcats’ exceptional defensive play persisted. Sophomore goalkeeper Carrie Martin saved four shots in as many attempts, and the overall defensive effort constrained Maine’s offensive attack.

Binghamton has now allowed just five goals in nine games.

“Our team defense has been great,” McClellan said. “Our backline and goalkeeping [have] been solid. We’re really making other teams work to get on the scoreboard and that’s something we want to continue to take pride in and try to get shutouts.”

Despite her team’s consistency on the defensive end, McClellan refuses to be complacent and will push her backline to become even stronger.

“We’ve kept all of our games close this year, so we’re looking to continue that and continue to challenge ourselves to go up even one more notch,” she said.

The Bearcats entered the contest with a three-game unbeaten streak against the Black Bears, who were picked to finish third in the America East Coaches’ Preseason Poll.

“I think [winning a tough conference road game] definitely is a great confidence builder,” McClellan said. “It’s not that we just beat Maine — we were better than them and our players felt it and knew it.”

Binghamton has two conference home games in the upcoming week, hosting the University of Hartford on Thursday and Stony Brook University on Sunday.

Hartford (8-0-2, 1-0 AE) leads the conference in goal defense with 0.3 goals allowed per game. Binghamton is ranked second, surrendering 0.55 goals per game.

Stony Brook (2-8, 0-1 AE) has been outscored 16-6 this season and will host University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Thursday.

Opening kick is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.