The Binghamton University men’s soccer team fell short in its effort to secure a spot in the America East tournament on Saturday, dropping its match to University of Hartford, 1-0, in spite of a last-minute attack.
Coming off of two straight losses, the Bearcats (6-8, 2-3 America East) only needed one win to ensure at least a No. 6 seed in the postseason. Hartford (7-7-1, 1-3-1 America East) came into the game without a win in conference play, looking to delay Binghamton’s tournament berth celebration for one more game.
The Hawks struck first with a header off of a corner kick from junior forward Anthony Santaga in the eighth minute of the game.
“We conceded another set piece goal,” Binghamton head coach Paul Marco said. “Those are difficult to swallow because we’ve conceded a lot this year and we’ve conceded more set piece goals in the past two seasons [than] probably in the last 10 years. I think it’s just an area that our team needs to improve.”
Nearly 10 minutes later, Binghamton nearly knotted up the score with a goal that was called back on an offside call from the line official. The call proved to be a crucial one, as BU failed to put the ball in the net for the rest of the match.
Hartford had a golden opportunity to extend its lead with six minutes left in the first half after a mishandled ball left a wide open net for freshman Javoni Simms, the team’s top goal scorer. But the forward fired the ball just over the net.
The Hawks put shot after shot on goal, outshooting the Bearcats 9-3 in the first half.
Binghamton’s energy level picked up with 20 minutes left in the second half as they put up seven shots on goal in that span.
“There’s no question we played with the urgency and intensity that we needed to in the last 10 minutes of the game,” Marco said. “It would have been nice to see us to play with that in the first 30 minutes of the game.”
Hartford freshman goalkeeper Viltsu Tuumi made nine saves in the game, but it was two kick saves in the closing minutes that secured the victory for his team. His performance was vital to the Hawks’ winning effort.
“Their goalkeeper made two unbelievable saves with his feet,” Marco said. “I mean, one of them he dove the wrong way and kicked it out with his foot. That’s just great goalkeeping. Their goalkeeper kept them in the game.”
Hartford withstood the ferocious rally at the end of the game to walk away with the 1-0 victory.
The Bearcats outshot the Hawks 8-4 in the second half, but did not have a goal to show for it.
“I felt like we created enough opportunities to tie the game and possibly win the game,” Marco said. “I felt like last night should have been a game that we had a draw in. I didn’t feel like we were on top of the match like we had been in the previous two matches. Hartford did a very good job.”
Binghamton is now 1-6 at home this season.
This would be the first time since 2001 that the Bearcats would finish with only one home win throughout the entirety of the season if a victory over Bucknell University eludes them on Oct. 30.
“I don’t know what it is with our particular group this year,” Marco said. “But fortunately for us the next two league matches are on the road.”
Binghamton is 5-1 on the road this season and looks to face Boston University (5-7-4, 2-2-2 America East) and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (8-4-4, 2-2-1 America East) in the next two games.
The Bearcats have not lost an away game since Aug. 24.
The team is scheduled to head to Boston for a 7 p.m. match Wednesday at Nickerson Field.