Heading the ball is commonplace in soccer, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to put the ball where you want it. What seemed like a routine play turned into a disaster for the Binghamton University men’s soccer team on Saturday night.
For the second-straight season, the No. 4-seeded Bearcats were eliminated on their home field in the America East quarterfinals as they lost to No. 5 University of New Hampshire 1-0 at the Bearcats Sports Complex. BU finishes 2010 with a 6-7-4 record.
Binghamton beat the Wildcats at home 1-0 just a week earlier in the final conference game of the regular season. Last season, the team defeated University of Maryland, Baltimore County at home 4-0 in its final conference game and hosted UMBC in the quarterfinals a week later. A red card to Liam Carson put the Bearcats at a disadvantage and UMBC would go on to win 2-1. Just like the red card was a defining moment in last year’s playoff game, an own goal by Binghamton defined this year’s game.
In the 62nd minute with the game scoreless, senior back Kyle Manscuk attempted to head the ball back to redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Chris Hayen. Hayen began running toward the ball, but Manscuk’s header sailed over Hayen’s head and into the net, giving the Wildcats all they would need to advance to the semifinals. They are scheduled to play No. 1 Boston University tomorrow night.
It was a devastating end to an exceptional career for Manscuk. He was recently named to the All-Conference first team for his performance this season. He was named to the All-Rookie team in 2007, All-Conference second team in 2008 and America East All-Tournament team last season. He’s also earned America East Academic Honor Roll every season. It’s a play he’s surely made many times over, but in that one instance, the ball just didn’t bounce in the Bearcats’ favor.
‘I don’t think [Manscuk and Hayen] miscommunicated,’ said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. ‘I just think that some of those things happen. You play a ball back toward your goal, I think they tried to do the right thing, they just didn’t execute it well enough. That was all, those things happen.’
Although the misplay will be the most remembered moment from the game, it doesn’t change what Manscuk and Hayen, as well as the entire team, accomplished. The team was young, and many of the underclassmen made significant strides during the season.
‘I think that both [Manscuk and Hayen] played their part [in the match],’ Marco said. ‘It was one moment; they certainly won’t be defined by that moment. Although the team’s season will come to an end ‘ when they reflect back on the year, they’ll know that they improved and performed and executed well through the season.’
Manscuk nearly had redemption in the game’s final minute. Junior captain Ryan Walter sent a ball into the box off a corner kick, and Manscuk was able to get a header on target, but UNH senior goalkeeper Colin O’Donnell caught the ball, ending the Bearcats’ chance. The Bearcats had several opportunities on set pieces throughout the match, but couldn’t break through.
‘When you’re in that mode of, ‘Gosh we need a goal,’ all the players want to be the hero, they all want to try to get it,’ Marco said. ‘Maybe if we had a player that went to O’Donnell instead of four guys going to try to win the ball, maybe it falls into us before it gets to O’Donnell. I thought that the set pieces we were quite dangerous on, as we usually are. But it was a very even game, and hats off to UNH; they were stellar at the back again. The only way they could get the goal was a little help from us.’
In addition to Manscuk, the collegiate careers of Matt Ryan, Josh Sailar, Yusuf Yusuf and Scott Zobre also came to an end. Yusuf didn’t get to play this year due to injury, and Zobre dealt with injuries as well. For Zobre, the loss brought back memories of last year’s playoff exit.
‘It’s a bit of d√É©j√Ɇ vu,’ he said. ‘It’s tough. You have to lose at some point, and we lost at home. It’s just unfortunate. Kind of similar [to last year] ‘ it just sucks being a senior.’
Marco is proud of his senior players for everything they’ve done on and off the field during their careers. The impact those players have had on the program will be felt for years to come.
‘When you have a group of seniors like we do, that have been in the team every year, this day comes that their playing career at Binghamton has come to an end,’ Marco said. ‘I think that the legacy that those guys leave is tremendous. It’s certainly one where some of the guys brought some great banter to the team, in the locker room, some of them brought some genius in the classroom, some of them brought some excitement on the field. I think that’s an overall class that has really helped us grow this year, and mature into a good playing team, a team that’s enjoyable to watch and one that can win games.’