The Binghamton University women’s soccer team picked up a much-needed point in the conference standings as its game against University at Albany’s Great Danes at the Bearcats Sports Complex ended in a scoreless tie on Sunday afternoon. With the game going into double overtime, both teams got physical in the 110 minutes, but neither team could break through, resulting in the fourth shutout of the season for the Bearcats’ freshman keeper Carrie Martin.
The first 10 minutes of the game were played with aggressive defense, until Bearcat freshman Kaitlyn Cook took a shot that was just narrowly blocked by Albany’s goalie. From there on out the game was played very physically on the offensive end, but neither team was able to make much progress. Within five minutes, Albany’s offense took four shots, none of which were successful.
Going into the game, BU head coach Sarah McClellan had defensive goals.
‘We wanted to battle Albany and eliminate Albany’s attack,’ she said when the game ended. In that respect, her girls did a fantastic job. The Bearcats’ back line played with tremendous effort, defending all of the seven shots directed at their goal. While in the first half the Bearcats were outshot 7-2, Martin remained cool as she defended her goal from every one of them.
To jump-start the second half, Binghamton had to step it up offensively.
‘We didn’t win many of our battles in the first half, so our focus in the second half was to battle the ball away from Albany,’ McClellan said.
But that attack was met with equal force from the Great Danes. The aggression from both teams did not go unnoticed as Albany’s offense came out firing, taking a shot at the goal within the first couple minutes of the second half. The Bearcats had several offensive opportunities off the bat, but could not finish.
Defensively, the Bearcats remained impenetrable.
‘Our keeper played fantastic and our back line played fantastic as well, shutting down Albany,’ McClellan said.
A corner kick from the Great Danes in the second half was just narrowly missed as Martin successfully blocked the hard shot. During one critical moment of the second half when Martin lost control of the ball, Albany had a chance to score, but the ball was quickly retrieved by the collective efforts of the Bearcat defensive squad.
The physicality of the game continued into the second half as both teams aggressively attacked the ball, but could not seem to hold onto it for any significant amount of time. However, in the second half of the game the Bearcats met Albany’s aggression more forcefully than in the first, attempting 10 shots compared to two made in the first half.
‘I didn’t think it would be that physical, but I think we adjusted to it better in the second half and fought back,’ McClellan said.
The scoreless tie at the end of the half was followed by two overtimes, where the Binghamton offense came out energetic and focused. But unfortunately for the Bearcats, their efforts were to no avail.
McClellan was not particularly happy with the draw.
‘A tie is like kissing your sister, we will take the positives, but a tie is no fun,’ she said.
However, she was happy with the discipline and organization of her team.
‘We are very pleased with how our back line played today. They were disciplined and organized and getting a shutout is a step forward. We will build on that,’ she said, focusing on the positives of the game.
The Bearcats improved to 8-1-1 all time against Albany, and moved their America East record to 1-2-1 with the draw. They earned one point as a result of the tie, which is important, as they are currently seventh in the conference.
Binghamton’s next scheduled game is on the road against University of Maryland, Baltimore County on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.