With the non-conference schedule over ‘ with the exception of a late-season game against Bucknell ‘ the Binghamton University men’s soccer team turned its attention to America East play on Saturday. The team ground out a tough slate of games to begin the season, knowing its conference opponents will be bringing their best efforts in every match, and on Saturday, the Bearcats (2-4-3, 0-0-1 AE) were able to grind out a 1-1 draw at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (4-3-1, 0-0-1 AE) in their conference opener. With the tie, Binghamton extended its unbeaten streak to five games, after starting the season with four losses against four top-25 opponents.
Each team tallied seven shots during the scoreless first half. In the 75th minute, UMBC freshman forward Pete Caringi headed a cross past Binghamton redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Chris Hayen to give the Retrievers a 1-0 advantage. The goal was Caringi’s fifth of the season. Junior Andrew Bulls and senior Levi Houapeu, the reigning America East Striker and Midfielder of the Year respectively, each notched assists on the play.
The Bearcats responded with a goal of their own in the 82nd minute. Sophomore Jake Keegan scored his second goal of the season, netting a ball in from junior and captain Ryan Walter. It was Keegan’s second-consecutive game scoring a goal, and he is now tied for second on the team with five points. Keegan was named America East Co-Player of the Week for his performances against Niagara and UMBC, sharing the honor with Vermont’s Zach Paul. Walter’s assist was his second of the season.
Neither team could break the tie after two overtime periods. Hayen finished the game with six saves, while UMBC junior goalkeeper Dan Louisignau made nine saves. The Bearcats had some quality chances throughout the match, particularly in the first half, but Louisignau came up with some big-time saves for the Retrievers. Binghamton head coach Paul Marco thought Louisignau was the difference in the match.
‘Their goalkeeper made three great saves in the first half,’ he said. ‘We probably should have been up two, but he made three great saves. When you reflect on the entire match as a whole, I was delighted we got a point because Chris Hayen made two great saves as well, one of them in overtime on a breakaway. Disappointed we didn’t get three points, but happy to get one.’
Houapeu and Bulls finished first and second in the nation respectively in points per game last season. The two standouts, along with Caringi, form a deadly attacking trio for UMBC, a trio that posed problems for the Bearcats throughout the match.
‘Levi is a very good player,’ Marco said. ‘When he gets the ball you must have a couple of players around him because he’s very good on the dribble. Bulls and Pete are pretty similar in that they’re looking to score goals, trying to get behind you, so we just needed to pay attention to where they were. In fact, I thought when we conceded the goal we weren’t paying attention.’
UMBC finished with 17 shots to Binghamton’s 15. However, the Bearcats held the edge in shots on goal 10-7. Marco felt his team could have gained the upper hand in the match had it been sharper with its crosses in the attacking zone.
‘Their goalkeeper on that day was outstanding,’ he said. ‘He made some saves that were just first-class saves. He was great at shot-stopping, but he wasn’t very good on crosses. I thought maybe we should’ve done a little bit better on balls that we were delivering into the box. Maybe we should have had another player in the box; we’ll take a look at that a little bit this week.’
After UMBC took the lead, Binghamton shifted its attack up a gear in an effort to tie the game. The team had been shut down on some good scoring chances earlier in the match, and couldn’t afford to walk away from the match with no points when they very easily could have had three.
‘Once we conceded the goal, we then went after it to try to get the goal back,’ Marco said. ‘I thought our tempo was quite good. We went and threatened the goal and then the ball was cleared out by the goalkeeper and then we went right back at it, and that’s how we got the goal. There was a significant period, not just the goal, a few minutes prior to the goal where we were trying to get the equalizer.’
Overall, Marco felt his team played well in the match. The team was well-prepared for its first conference match in a tough road environment. Marco offered praise for the playing conditions at the UMBC Soccer Stadium.
‘The surface was one of the best we’ve played on,’ he said. ‘It was fantastic. They probably have the best surface in the conference. So you walk out onto a park like that and you get really excited. The group that we brought was up for the match. I’d say we were pretty excited; I thought it was more of a focus than anxiousness. A little nervous at the start of the match, and then I thought about 10 minutes into the match we started to play really nice soccer.’
One glaring statistic in the match is the number of fouls committed. The Bearcats were called for 14 fouls in the match and had four players receive yellow cards, while the Retrievers had just three fouls called against them. Marco preferred not to delve too deeply into the matter.
‘I was disappointed that we ended up with four yellow cards throughout the match. I would say that [the referee] called the game extremely tight against us.’
The Bearcats’ next scheduled game is the homecoming match against the University of Vermont, which is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday.