The Binghamton University men’s soccer team plans to go head-to-head with arguably the most formidable of America East Conference opponents tonight. Preseason favorite Boston University heads up to the rolling hills of Vestal to take on the Bearcats in what head coach Paul Marco says will be the most exciting of games.
“I think they are a fantastic team,” he said. “They have had a fantastic non-conference run and we won’t underestimate them.”
Boston University has indeed had an impressive non-conference year. The Terriers shut out then-nationally No. 1-ranked St. John’s University, 1-0, No. 13 University of Connecticut 3-0 and tied No. 23 Brown University, 3-3.
“They are just very well coached, very organized and very talented,” Marco said. “I expect tomorrow night to be a great match. Conference games are extremely tight, but we had very good preparation where our experienced guys really worked well in.”
For Boston, the struggles have not been against top-ranked teams, but against its own conference rivals. The Terriers are riding a two-game losing streak, dropping matches to University of Hartford, 3-1, and University of New Hampshire, 2-1. Despite a 1-2 AE record, Marco says that the numbers don’t speak for the team.
“If you have more hits than me in baseball, you would probably win the game,” Marco said. “If you outshot me 14-4 [in soccer], there is no guarantee that you were the winner of that match. Boston was on top of both of those games. I just think that the conference is extremely competitive. Winning and losing are separated by the small margin.”
Boston outshot the Hawks 12-10 and the Wildcats 19-6. In the conference, the Terriers are ranked No. 3 in shots, averaging 13.67 a match. Boston is also ranked No. 3 in goals with 1.67 per game.
“I think that teams like UNH and Hartford come as a surprise,” Marco said. “When you look at it, however, you can see how close the teams are. It all comes down to those moments to win the game. You just need to find the right opportunity and capitalize on them.”
Because they had no matches this week, the Bearcats were able to recover and recuperate in preparation for tomorrow’s match. Marco says that his squad is ready to take on the Terriers despite the reports of a wintry weather forecast for the weekend.
“We have a bunch of international guys and [this weather] is great for them,” he said. “We have players that hail from Scotland and Quebec so they are used to playing in the cold. If I had guys from Florida, that would be a different story.”
Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.