Penalty kicks have been the difference in two of the Binghamton University men’s soccer team’s last three conference losses. The Bearcats fell to Stony Brook University 2-1 on Saturday, and a playoff berth is now all but impossible.
Stony Brook (7-5-1, 3-1-1 America East) junior midfielder Leonardo Fernandes connected on a penalty kick and collected an assist in the Seawolves’ victory. BU junior forward Jake Keegan scored the Bearcats’ first conference goal of the season.
Despite the loss, Binghamton (4-9-1, 0-4-1 AE) head coach Paul Marco appeared pleased with his team’s performance.
“It was a home match for [Stony Brook] so it was a difficult road match for us,” Marco said. “I really loved how our guys came out; I thought they were enthusiastic and I thought they played with excitement for the game.”
With quarterfinal slots at stake, the game started at a very high tempo; both the Bearcats and the Seawolves played with an attacking mindset. The first half was an even affair as both teams negated each other’s plays successfully, causing most of the action to be played out in the midfield.
“I thought our guys did really well in the first half, it was 0-0, stats were the same,” Marco said.
The Bearcats started the second half on a strong note with a 49th-minute shot from sophomore Marts Reid-Warden that came close to putting Binghamton in front. But it was for naught, and Fernandes converted on his penalty kick three minutes later.
“The penalty kick they were awarded I thought was pretty harsh,” Marco said. “If it was our striker going down, I think we would have called out for a penalty as well. But I still felt that he didn’t really have to give that penalty; the player was not going in on goal, and it was not like he was going to shoot the ball.”
The goal left the Bearcats’ defense reeling. The Seawolves registered four shots over the next 10 minutes. Then, in the 70th minute, a free kick taken by Fernandes found the head of junior Berian Gobiel, who directed it past sophomore goalkeeper Chris Hayen for Gobiel’s seventh goal of the season.
All seemed lost for Binghamton as the clock wound down. But in the 83rd minute, a cross by junior midfielder Adam Whitehead found Keegan, who headed the ball in from point-blank range to SBU goalie Stefan Manz’ right side. The rejuvenated Bearcats attacked with zest for the final five minutes of the game. Both Whitehead and freshman midfielder Tucker Sandercock came close to leveling the score, but time ran out before the Bearcats were able to pull even.
The atmosphere in the locker room was one of disappointment after the defeat, but there is still a hope to make the conference tournament.
“[We’re] obviously disappointed,” Keegan said. “The season is not over. If we win our last two games, we should be in the tournament, so we’ve got to keep fighting. The next game is going to define who we are this year, if we can come together and get a win. It’s going to determine everything; we haven’t had a great season so far but we can make it all go away if we perform well in the next couple of games.”
The Bearcats still have a mathematical chance of making it to the America East tournament if they win their next two games and get some help in the results of other conference matchups.
With a game on Wednesday at University of Hartford, the Binghamton side, according to Marco, is desperate.
“We still have playoff hopes,” Marco said. “It is a must-win match on Wednesday. I think it’s going to be another highly competitive match and our guys will have to be good.”
Kickoff against the Hawks is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.