Since tying its 2015 win total last Sunday, the Binghamton women’s soccer team has stalled. BU (4-4-2) dropped its second consecutive one-goal game on Sunday against Cornell, after failing to score in either match.
“Good teams don’t lose two in a row,” said Binghamton women’s soccer head coach Neel Bhattacharjee following the Bearcats’ 1-0 loss to the Big Red (3-4).
After holding Cornell scoreless through 75 minutes of play, Binghamton finally conceded. Off a free kick 40 yards out, Cornell junior defender Whitney Farber headed the ball past Bearcats’ junior goalie Katie Hatziyianis. Her attempt deflected off the post before being redirected by freshman forward Kennedy Yearby, who slotted the rebound into the net.
The rest of the game mirrored Binghamton’s other losses this season: a sturdy defense handicapped by an offense that has yet to come together. The Bearcats’ attack mustered just five shots, only two of which were on goal.
According to Bhattacharjee, the lack of offensive production was due in part to a lack of execution.
“Possession was not as high-quality as typically we’re used to, so things just started to get away from us and it kind of became a little bit of an uglier game than we wanted it to,” he said.
While Binghamton must improve its possession to create more legitimate scoring opportunities, Bhattacharjee acknowledges that there is more than one factor contributing to BU’s offensive deficiencies.
“Everything’s just got to be a little bit more high-quality, in terms of our pressure, in terms of what we’re doing, in terms of winning 50-50 balls, what we’re doing in terms of being cleaner on the possession,” he said. “We know we’re capable of playing a little bit better in those different elements.”
Binghamton’s efforts were hindered by the injury bug early in the first half. Less than 13 minutes into regulation, freshman defender Lauren Spinnato had to be helped off the field after colliding with a Cornell player. Spinnato has started in all 10 of Binghamton’s games this season, tallying 12 shots and serving as an important presence in the middle third.
Binghamton’s defense picked up the slack once again, consistently thwarting Cornell’s advances up top. Senior Allison Mack and freshman Sam O’Malley anchored the back line in front of Hatziyianis, who made multiple diving and point-blank stops to preserve the scoreless tie for much of the match. The six saves she recorded improved her save percentage to .860 on the season.
The Bearcats’ best scoring opportunity came in the final minute of play, when senior forward Leighann Bennett crossed the ball to junior back Hannah Shankman, who sent a volley into the lower left corner before it was saved by Cornell senior goalie Kelsey Tierney.
“That was a great example of where we had numbers in the box and we were able to get [BU players] in and then we were able to get on the end of the ball,” Bhattacharjee said. “That’s something that we’ve got to do a little bit better on. It was urgent, obviously; it was late in the game. We were down 1-0. That’s the urgency we need to show for 90 minutes straight.”
Despite their recent struggles, the Bearcats hope to turn over a new leaf as America East play begins.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” Bhattacharjee said. “The good thing now is everyone is 0-0 as we head into conference play and that’s going to be our focus going forward. We did some good things over the course of the last 10 games, and now we’ve got to get back to that.”
Binghamton is scheduled to return to the field on Sunday against Hartford. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. from Al-Marzook Field in West Hartford, Connecticut.