In 2014, the Binghamton women’s soccer team was eliminated from the America East tournament in heartbreaking fashion. The Bearcats fell in the quarterfinals on a penalty shootout against New Hampshire to end their season.
BU (1-7-1) is set to open its 2015 conference slate on Sunday. Its first opponent? None other than New Hampshire (2-5-3).
“We definitely feel like it’s going to be a fantastic rematch from that quarterfinal,” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said. “New Hampshire went on to win the [AE] championship, so we feel like we really want to have this rematch.”
The Bearcats head into the AE opener on a seven-game losing skid. BU has gone winless after beginning the season by defeating St. Bonaventure, 2-1, and playing to a scoreless draw against Canisius, while seeing its offense sputter. Binghamton has been outscored by a combined 16-2 during the streak and has been outshot 132-57.
Although Binghamton has struggled during its non-conference schedule, McClellan believes that her team has grown from the experience.
“We learned from each game and we can start to put everything together now from the lessons we learned in the games,” she said. “We saw a lot of different styles and a lot of great opponents.”
One bright spot for the Bearcat offense has been freshman forward Julianne Johnston. Johnston is currently tied for the team lead with two goals, including netting the game-winner in BU’s only victory this season. Johnston has taken 13 shots on the year, eight on goal, both second on the team.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire enters the game on a losing streak of its own, dropping four consecutive contests. UNH fell, 2-1, in overtime to both Lafayette and Harvard, before being defeated, 1-0, in double-overtime to Northeastern on Sunday.
Sophomore forward Brooke Murphy and senior midfielder Gabrielle Sloan have led the Wildcat attack so far this season. The pair has combined for 51 shots, 29 on goal. Murphy has tallied four goals and two assists on the year, while Sloan has put two into the back of the net.
Both teams finished their non-conference schedule last Sunday, giving each a week off heading into the contest to prepare for the match-up.
“It’s tremendous to have consecutive days of practice, where we can have fun out there, knocking around, get a lot of touches and gain confidence,” McClellan said. “[We] have our focus set on New Hampshire and starting off the conference season.”
Kick-off for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Bremner Field in Durham, New Hampshire.
Jeffrey Twitty contributed to this report.