After winning two straight America East regular season titles, the Binghamton women’s soccer team will look to build off its regular season success and finally bring home a postseason title.
Following a 2023 regular season in which the Bearcats finished with a 6-5-6 record and a 5-0-3 record in conference play, the Binghamton women’s soccer team earned the No. 1 seed in the AE playoffs, securing home-field advantage and a bye in the quarterfinal round.
For their first game of the playoffs, the Bearcats hosted No. 4 seed UMass Lowell in the semifinals, and less than two minutes into the match, they took an encouraging 1-0 lead over the River Hawks. UMass Lowell, however, battled back, scoring the game-tying goal in the middle of the second half. Both squads were held scoreless for the remainder of regulation, forcing overtime.
By the end of the first overtime, the score remained 1-1. Forcing a second overtime in which the River Hawks scored the eventual game-winning goal. The Bearcats bombarded the net for the rest of the game, but they could not slot it home as UMass Lowell successfully pulled off the season-ending upset.
Despite a tough offseason in which they lost six players to season-ending injuries, as well as all three of their former team captains and six starters from the 2023 squad, the 2024 Bearcats will once again look to compete for the AE postseason title. Binghamton head coach Neel Bhattacharjee will look to a combination of five returning starters, eight incoming freshmen and veteran Bearcats to fill the gap created in the offseason. Among the returners are senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Williams, an AE second-team all-conference selection, and junior forward Lauren Clark, who co-led the Bearcats in goals during the 2023 season. Other notable returners include co-captains senior midfielder Alex Marsteller and 2024 preseason AE all-conference junior defender Brooke Herber.
Despite significant changes to the roster, expect Bhattacharjee to maintain BU’s classic tiki-taka-esque style of play, with emphases on heavy possession and precise passing.
BU will kick off the season against George Washington University on Sunday, Aug. 18. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at the GW-Mount Vernon Athletic Complex in Washington, D.C.