Following a postponed matchup against Bucknell University, the Binghamton University women’s soccer team will travel to Loudonville, N.Y. for a Sunday matchup against Siena College, the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions.

Binghamton was set to host Bucknell on Wednesday night, but the immense amount of rain that plagued the Vestal and Binghamton areas caused the game to be postponed. Prior to Thursday afternoon, no make-up date had been announced.

Instead, the team turns its sights on the Saints (2-0), who were tabbed by MAAC coaches as the conference favorite and recorded back-to-back 1-0 victories in their first two games against St. Bonaventure University and Quinnipiac University. In each outing, senior forward Ashleigh Barone netted a first-half goal and the Siena defense held on for the victory.

Barone has 36 career goals and holds Siena’s all-time single-season record of 15 goals, but she is not the sole weapon in the Saints’ offensive arsenal. Sophomore forward Brittany Pfaff, who tallied 25 points last year as a freshman and assisted Barone’s goal at St. Bonaventure, augments Siena’s offensive potency.

Though the Saints have amassed just two goals in as many games, they led the MAAC a season ago with 2.19 goals per contest.

Defensively, Siena’s roster flaunts All-MAAC senior back Shannon Clancy, but senior goalkeeper Laura Ettinger, who is a perfect 14-for-14 on save opportunities, has been featured more prominently in the box score.

Although Binghamton doesn’t have an all-conference defender, its stingy defense has surrendered just three goals in six games. Only one goal has been recorded against the Bearcats during regulation. In its three shutout victories, Binghamton allowed just 14 shots, six of which were on goal.

Most recently, Binghamton dominated Fairleigh Dickinson University in the teams’ matchup on Sunday. The BU offense outshot the Knights 28-6 while its defense applied constant pressure to FDU’s offensive attack. Sophomore goalkeeper Carrie Martin collected four saves in the shutout.

Junior forward Sarah Furminger notched her first points of the 2011 campaign against the Knights, scoring a goal and assisting another en route to a 2-0 Bearcat victory. Furminger led the Bearcats with 10 points as a sophomore and is currently ranked in points this season with three.

Senior forward AnnMarie Rizzi was named America East Player of the Game following BU’s victory over FDU, tallying her first goal of the season.

The Saints are the second 2010 NCAA Tournament on the Bearcats’ schedule, and Binghamton hopes for a different result this time around. Last Friday, BU was outshot by Lehigh University, the reigning Patriot League champions, 14-7. Lehigh took the game 1-0.

Despite recording seven total shots, the Bearcats offense managed just one shot on goal.

“Coming off [our previous] game, when we played a good game against a high level opponent, we kept taking steps forward today,” head coach Sarah McClellan said in an interview with http://www.bubearcats.com. “We were decisive on the attack pushing numbers forward and getting shots on goal and that’s important for us as we get closer to conference play. We need to continue to take care of the details on the field and continue to jump start our attack.”

St. Bonaventure is the only opponent both Binghamton and Siena have played thus far. While the Saints defeated the Bonnies 1-0, the Bearcats found themselves on the opposite end, falling in a 1-0 loss.

The Bonnies outshot both the Bearcats and Saints by a significant margin, but Siena capitalized on one of its seven shots while Binghamton failed to do so.

Prior to its match with Binghamton, Siena will play at the University of Delaware tonight.

Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m Sunday at Siena College.