In the shadows of the Events Center at the new Bearcat Sports Complex, the Bearcats battled into the night against the Syracuse Orange under the bright lights of Binghamton University’s brand new field. The Binghamton women’s soccer team (0-6-1) looked to be on top for the majority of the first 50 minutes of play, before chaotic scrambles cost BU yet another victory, as the Bearcats fell 2-1 in overtime.

Syracuse (3-2-2) worked back from a 1-0 deficit. The Orange’s game-tying goal came from Jen Taormina on the rebound of a save by BU goalkeeper Erin Iman at the 52-minute mark. The game-winner came on a scramble in front of the net 41 seconds into overtime, ending in a loose ball helped to the back of the net by ‘Cuse midfielder Chelsea Berry.

The opening night for the BSC, which received nothing but compliments all around as Syracuse head coach Eric Farmer called it ‘brilliant, especially in comparison to the swamp lands that were here when I was at Penn State,’ started well. Binghamton dominated on both offense and defense, not allowing the Orange many quality scoring chances.

‘Binghamton out-played and out-coached us for the entire first half,’ Farmer said.

Over the course of the first half, senior forward Kim Povill became the first Bearcat to score a goal at the new complex, heading in the first goal of the contest in the 39th minute.

‘Wow, I didn’t even realize that I was the first,’ Povill said. ‘It’s awesome, especially being that the goal was due to the setup of one of my other teammates, so they were able to join in as well.’

The angles and direction of some of Binghamton’s shots were off, but BU coach Jeff Leightman said he was not concerned.

‘You can’t score if you don’t shoot,’ he said. ‘We outshot them in the first half and some of those questionable pushes might have been more over passing forced by their defense.’

The second half played much like the norm for the season, as poor luck led to another loss.

‘The soccer gods were not on our side,’ Leightman said.

Even after another disappointing loss, which Leightman suggested might have been due to late-game fatigue, the Bearcats still have a strong belief in their ability to turn this season around.

‘All we need is that first result and it will snowball from there,’ Leightman said. The Bearcats hope to see the same kind of support they received in their home opener all season long.

‘We’re so grateful to the campus,’ Povill said. ‘It was an awesome atmosphere and the first time ever that we got to play a night game. The fans really did lift us to the next level. So, while losing like this is getting rough, we are improving and as we keep saying, ‘We’ll peak at Conference.’