How could Cameron Keith possibly top his three-goal outburst against Cornell?
By following it up with an equalizer and overtime game winner against Binghamton University’s biggest rival, the sophomore from Scotland again played the hero at the new Bearcat Sports Complex.
Behind Keith’s two goals, Binghamton’s men’s soccer team (8-2, 1-0 AE) overcame a 1-0 deficit to down the visiting Boston University Terriers (5-5, 0-1 AE) 2-1 in front of 1,782 fans.
With 16 seconds remaining in sudden-death overtime, Keith found the back of the net after a scrum in front of the goal. Terrier goalkeeper Hrafn Davidsson couldn’t handle midfielder Justin Leskow’s shot, and forward Matt Narode tapped the ball out of Davidsson’s hands to assist Keith’s goal.
‘I’m not exactly sure what happened,’ said Davidsson. ‘I went to the ball, I thought I had my hands on it, someone tackled me very hard and I lost the ball, and they scored.’
Keith’s first goal came with ten minutes remaining in the first half. Binghamton crossed the ball in front of the goal and Davidsson swatted the pass away. Senior back Adam Chavez controlled the rebound and assisted Keith’s tap-in goal.
The Bearcats dominated the ball early in the match, winning battles in the air and playing the aggressor in the first fifteen minutes. But on Boston’s first scoring chance, the Terriers found an open player behind the Bearcat defense. Chavez, usually steady in the backfield, misplayed the ball and the pass sailed over his head. Boston forward Shaun Taylor kicked an open shot past Binghamton keeper Jason Stenta to take the lead early.
‘I don’t remember them attacking before their goal,’ said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. ‘They didn’t really threaten the space behind our defense at all before their goal. We were kind of dumbfounded.’
‘Mistakes are going to happen,’ said Chavez. ‘It’s how you make up for them in the rest of the game that matters.’
Despite tiring in the second half, Binghamton took 19 shots to Boston University’s 10.
Keith nearly scored the winning goal with one second remaining in regulation. He received a pass at the top of the box, turned around and fired a rocket to the top-right corner. Davidsson, however, made a fantastic save to send the game into overtime.
For his efforts, Keith was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. He leads Binghamton in points despite an injury that sidelined him for half the season. He has scored five goals in the last two games.
‘I still don’t feel like I can run as fast as I could before’ said Keith. ‘My ankles are still hurting, but I’m definitely getting there.’
Despite his injury, Keith has added a dimension to a team usually led by its defense.
Marco, however, isn’t ready to rename the new complex ‘Cameron Keith Field.’
‘We’ve had a lot of great players play in our program,’ Marco said. ‘This week the alumni were in and those guys didn’t get a chance to play on this field. Maybe we can nickname it Cammy Field for now, but he hasn’t been scoring those goals without the help of all the other guys on the field.’
Binghamton is receiving votes in the CSN National top-30 poll.