After shutting out Canisius 2-0 last week to earn its second win of the season, the Binghamton men’s soccer team looked to build on its momentum but ultimately fell short to St. Peter’s 3-1 on Tuesday night at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York. After some back and forth to open the contest, the Peacocks’ offense took control with two goals in the first half and never looked back as BU was unable to recover from its early deficit, dropping its fifth match of the year.

“In a lot of regards, I’m unbelievably disappointed,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “I thought that we were really good in a lot of areas of the game and then [one versus one] defending [and] individual duels were absolutely poor in the game. I think that goes back to attitude and effort [and] I didn’t think that was really good.”

St. Peter’s (1-4-2, 0-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference [MAAC]) kicked off the first half with possession of the ball, but Binghamton (2-5-0) got the ball out of its defensive zone and went on the attack. Both teams fought to get on the board early in the match as the ball went back and forth for the first couple of minutes. The first shot of the game came from the Peacocks in the third minute, but graduate student goalkeeper Dylan McDermott managed to make a save to keep the game scoreless.

“Some guys individually were doing some really good things with the ball but defensively they were a liability,” Marco said. “Other guys were just the opposite. They were playing really good defensively, and attacking-wise weren’t very useful with the ball.”

With possession of the ball, the Bearcats looked to create opportunities on offense to get on the board. BU’s first scoring attempt came from graduate student midfielder Jack Green, but this attempt did not make it onto the goal. Not long after, Binghamton had another opening to get on the board but was unable to connect with the back of the Peacocks’ net. As the half progressed, both teams continued to look for moments to score. Eventually, in the 38th minute, St. Peter’s got on the board to take a 1-0 lead. Then, just six minutes later, St Peter’s scored once again to earn a 2-0 advantage going into halftime.

Trailing by two goals, BU looked to make a comeback in the second half. However, the Peacocks were able to maneuver their way into BU’s defensive zone, putting pressure on the Bearcats’ goal. Then, St. Peter’s took a shot on the net and scored four minutes into the half, taking a three-goal lead over the Bearcats. Once Binghamton got the ball out of its zone, it looked to cut into the Peacocks’ 3-0 lead. Senior midfielder Markos Touroukis got two shots off in a six-minute stretch, but neither found the back of the goal.

“I felt like we ran out of time,” Marco said. “If we played maybe a little longer maybe we get another goal. [I’m] really disappointed on the goals we conceded today and how close they were together.”

In the 57th minute, BU was finally able to get on the board. With a corner kick opportunity, the Bearcats took full advantage as redshirt senior midfielder Anthony Lazaridis was able to find the back of the net off of an assist from Green.

Both the Bearcats and the Peacocks had several attempts to score additional goals in the closing minutes, but neither team was able to score. During one moment, Binghamton looked to have scored to make it a one-goal game, but due to an offsides call, the goal was erased. The Bearcats went on to suffer a 3-1 loss, their fifth of the season.

“I thought we did create enough to get at least one more goal,” Marco said. “Tight on the offside call late in the game when we score the goal and it’s offside, but I mean we were just running out of time.”

BU will begin America East (AE) play against UNH on Saturday, Sept. 23. Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.