By the time Albany attempted its first shot Thursday night, the Binghamton women’s soccer team had taken 18. The Bearcat offense was relentless, pouring a constant stream of shots at Albany (1-11-1, 0-3-1 America East) from the 30-second mark through the 90th minute and taking a 2-0 win at Bob Ford Field.
The shutout, Binghamton’s sixth of 2013, earned head coach Sarah McClellan’s squad (6-4-2, 1-1-1 AE) its first win of AE play.
Sophomore forward Stephani Church tacked on the first goal in the 21st minute with sophomore midfielder Katie Corcoran assisting. Positioned by the left post, Church took Corcoran’s cross and deposited it in the net for her fourth goal of the season.
Junior midfielder Emily Nuss secured the game’s second goal 10 minutes into the second half when junior back Connie Gormley sent a bouncing free kick from midfield to the box, where Nuss netted it.
“The team was just really committed to working hard,” McClellan said. “We’ve just been so close in these past games with our attack, and we really were able to keep the pressure in our attack and really go at Albany’s goal.”
To Albany’s credit, sophomore keeper Alana Brennan collected all but two of the 14 shots on goal.
Binghamton displayed its offensive depth, with nine Bearcats contributing to the 29-shot total and five tallying more than one. Sophomore midfielder Rebecca Raber and Corcoran led the way with a match-high eight shots apiece. Corcoran garnered another match-high with five shots on goal.
“I thought the teamwork out there was excellent,” McClellan said. “The players were creative, and they were connecting passes and creating dangerous chances in the goal. That’s how we were able to get two goals and could have probably gotten more.”
On Albany’s end, the Great Danes, who have been held winless since August, managed three shots on goal out of seven total. The team had averaged a goal per game in its past three contests, but the Bearcat defense and junior keeper Gaby Gold didn’t allow them the courtesy. Gold swept up three balls en route to her shutout.
Next up on the Bearcats’ schedule is a trip to Maine, where they’ll face the current AE leader to mark the halfway point to quarterfinals.
Maine (6-3-4, 3-0-1 AE) has yet to drop a conference match, most recently defeating UMass Lowell, 3-1, on Thursday night. The Black Bears, likewise, applied a heavy foot on their opponent, holding a 27-6 shot advantage.
“Maine is a very strong team,” McClellan said. “We know that this will be a very big challenge for us, but I think our team has really showed some good stuff tonight. And it’s something that will help us gain confidence to take in to what should be another good game on Sunday.”
Kickoff is set for noon Sunday at Alumni Field in Orono, Maine.