If your soccer team is hoping that a penalty kick will even the score of a game and breathe new momentum into your squad, you’d better hope you’re not playing against Jason Stenta.
Stenta became the first Division I Bearcats goalkeeper to stop a penalty kick, helping the Bearcats win a road match against Cornell University on Wednesday by a score of 2-0, despite poor weather conditions on the field.
The match was delayed 30 minutes due to the inclement weather, and the field was left in difficult condition to play on.
“We had some rain before the game, so it was tough to move the ball,” said senior back Kyle Kucharski. “[It was] not the prettiest of games.”
Despite the messy state of the field, it was Kucharski who opened up the scoring for Binghamton at the 12:27 mark on a free kick from 25 yards out. It was Kucharski’s first collegiate goal and it gave him a team-best six total points for the season.
“I just tried to put a ball in the a free place,” Kucharski said. “Luckily it went in the right direction.”
Exactly five minutes later, Stenta stonewalled Cornell’s Scott Caldwell on a penalty kick by making a diving save to the left side, one of five first-half saves.
“It was struck to the corner,” Stenta said. “As he moved his hips I was able to get a read on him. [The save] felt great.”
“Stenta was fantastic tonight,” Binghamton head coach Paul Marco said. “He read the shooter and made a great save.”
The penalty kick taken by Caldwell was the first against Binghamton since Jamie Johnson of Boston converted his attempt during the 2004 America East championship game.
In the second half, sophomore forward Andy Tiedt scored his second goal of the season off a throw-in by freshman back Matt Robertson at the 70:40 mark putting Binghamton up 2-0 and sealing the victory for the Bearcats.
“Tiedt did an unbelievable turn,” Marco said. “[From] about 12 yards out, it was a great goal.”
The Bearcats improved to 4-3 on the season with their second straight victory after three straight one-goal losses.
“We had a couple of rough patches when we started off,” Stenta said. “We’re just trying to make progress every day.”
Tiedt echoed the same sentiment.
“The team is improving every game,” he said. “We are taking steps forward and we are getting good results, [but] there is always room for improvement.”
The match was the second consecutive shutout for the Bearcats. Stenta extended his program record for shutouts to 34. Despite being outshot 14-8 on the game, the Bearcats defense held up, led by Stenta’s seven saves; he has made 11 saves in the last two matches.
“It was a fantastic, competitive, highly spirited game,” Marco said of the match. “I thought our guys were very resilient and we got better through the match.”
The Bearcats’ next match is scheduled to be against Niagara University at the Bearcats Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.