After earning a tie and collecting one point in its America East (AE) conference opener last Saturday against UNH, the Binghamton men’s soccer team took on No. 19 Hofstra and was ultimately edged in the contest 1-0. The Pride managed to take the lead early on and controlled the ball for most of the half and despite the Bearcats’ best effort to get on the board throughout the game, they were unable to find the equalizer as they suffered their sixth loss of the year.

“I thought the guys were very good against a very good opponent,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “It was a very tight game. We had good chances to score a goal … we do score a goal that gets called back, offside.”

Binghamton (2-6-1, 0-0-1 AE) had the game’s first attempt on goal within the first 10 seconds of the match but was unable to find the back of the net. Notably, this would be the only opportunity the Bearcats would have in the first half. Shortly after, Hofstra (7-1-2, 1-0-2 Coastal Athletic Association [CAA]) looked to find the back of the net as well, but the ball went over the top of the goal.

The Pride’s pursuit to the net continued as it got off two more shots, but sophomore goalkeeper Jack Root was able to keep the game scoreless for BU. The Bearcats were kept in their defensive zone as Hofstra continued to put pressure on the BU defense. Eventually, in the 20th minute, the Pride capitalized on a corner kick opportunity that gave them an early 1-0 advantage over Binghamton.

“Really disappointing for us to give up a corner goal,” Marco said. “I think that we have to continue to try to make that an emphasis of improvement in the group but overall, I thought the guys played with tremendous spirit and were quite good.”

Going into the second half, BU looked to make a comeback and tie the game. Just four minutes into the second half, the Bearcats looked to even the score with a goal of their own. However, Binghamton was called for offsides, and the goal ended up being withdrawn as the score remained 1-0 in favor of Hofstra.

“I thought the guys came out in the second half,” Marco said. “That’s when we get the goal four minutes into the second half that’s called offside. I thought the guys were great in the second half, just disappointed we didn’t get another goal.”

Following the offsides, Binghamton created more opportunities just a few minutes later, placing more pressure on Hofstra’s defense. Then, in the 51st minute, sophomore midfielder Calvin Moe shot the ball toward the bottom center of the net in search of the game-tying score, but the Pride’s goalkeeper was able to make the save.

“[Root] has shown really good poise as well as a little bit of aggressiveness at the same time, which has been wonderful to see,” Marco said. “And then we got a lot of guys in the game yesterday, so I tried to make sure that I could get as many guys in the nonconference games as possible to make sure everybody’s fresh.”

BU continued to search for an opportunity to find some open net, tallying six total shots throughout the half in comparison to the one shot that it had in the first. When on defense, the Bearcats again found more success in the second half, holding Hofstra to only one shot. However, the Bearcats could not register a goal before time elapsed, dropping the match 1-0.

“One highlight of the game is we had an unbelievable turnout from our [alumni],” Marco said, “We probably had 15 to 20 alumni at the game, which was great to see. They got to meet the team, [and] it was really good.”

BU will return home to continue AE conference play against NJIT on Saturday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.