The Binghamton University men’s soccer team came into Wednesday night’s match against rival Albany with more than bragging rights on the line. The Bearcats (8-7-2, 3-3-1 America East) also had a chance to secure home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs and win the America East regular season title. Neither of these goals were accomplished, however, as the Bearcats fell, 3-1, to the Great Danes (10-7-1, 5-2-0 America East). The win gave Albany its first America East regular season title in program history.
“Congratulations to Albany on winning the regular season title,” BU head coach Paul Marco said. “I thought they played pretty well.”
Both teams started the game in top form, each pressing and trying to get the opening goal. Albany struck first in the 30th minute when sophomore forward Moosah Khanat played a long ball to sophomore forward Afonso Pinheiro. He beat the offsides trap, went in one-on-one and avoided Binghamton junior goalkeeper Robert Moewes to slot home the goal.
“I can’t tell if the first goal was on or offside but it was very, very close,” Marco said. “Nonetheless, the flag stayed down and the goal counted.”
Binghamton continued to fight in the first half and got its fair share of opportunities, outshooting Albany 5-4 in the period.
“I was disappointed we did not get a goal in the first half,” Marco said. “I thought our front three did enough to get at least a point or two but we couldn’t get past their keeper. Not that he made terrific saves, but he made the saves he had to.”
The Great Danes came out strong in the second half, looking to add to their 1-0 lead. They did just that in the 49th minute when senior midfielder Philip Persson dribbled the ball upfield and unleashed a powerful shot from beyond the box that beat the outstretched Moewes.
Albany, however, was not done, adding a third goal in the 84th minute when junior midfielder Leo Melgar pounced on a rebound and put it past Moewes to give his team a 3-0 lead.
“It was a very good Albany team, they played with a lot of confidence and it showed,” Marco said.
Binghamton finally found the back of the net in the 88th minute when freshman forward Karamo Diaby scored his first goal of the season after a scramble in front of the Albany goal.
“We played with more urgency in the last seven, eight minutes than we did in the entire game,” Marco said. “I think if we started that way then maybe it would’ve been a different outcome.”
After the opening goal, it was clear that Albany had the upper hand on Wednesday night. The Great Danes moved the ball well and were able to expose a Binghamton back line that has played well all season long.
“We had an opportunity to finish the regular season on a very special note and I thought we really let ourselves down,” Marco said. “There aren’t a lot of matches this season where I say we let ourselves down but today this was one of them.”
With their loss to Albany, the Bearcats dropped to fifth place in the America East and are set to travel to Stony Brook for the first round of the America East tournament. The meeting will serve as a rematch of last week’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Seawolves.
“We are going to move past this and get ready for the playoffs,” Marco said.
Kickoff against SBU is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday from LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York.