Despite earning its second straight shutout, the Binghamton women’s soccer team couldn’t find the net in its 0-0 tie with New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at Bremner Field.
The game, which marked BU’s fifth shutout of the season, opened conference play for the Bearcats (5-3-2, 0-0-1 AE). The tie garnered the team one point in the America East, pitting BU between leaders Hartford, Stony Brook and Maine, who all notched wins in their AE openers, and UMass Lowell, UMBC, Vermont and Albany, who either did not play or lost their contests.
“We’re not jumping up and down about this,” Binghamton head coach Sarah McClellan said. “We wanted to win, but New Hampshire is a long trip for us and we can’t be upset about going on the road and getting a point.”
Despite finding themselves unable to convert, junior midfielder Emily Nuss helped the Bearcats to a 15-10 shot advantage with five of her own. BU also proved more accurate, with seven shots on goal to UNH’s three. On the opposite side of the field, Wildcat senior Colleen Murray led New Hampshire (2-5-3, 0-0-1 AE) with three shots off the bench as she entered the game in the 23rd minute.
“This was a back-and-forth game with lots of changes in possession,” McClellan said. “A lot of our players performed very well despite not scoring.”
The stat sheet reflected the overall team effort – BU’s 15 shots were spread among eight players. Outside of Nuss, sophomore midfielder Rebecca Raber attempted three shots, two of which were on goal. Sophomore midfielder Katie Corcoran followed up with two, and senior forward Sophie Sylla, junior back Connie Gormley, freshman forward Michele Galvin and freshmen midfielders Katie O’Neill and Allison Mack notched one apiece.
Both teams managed to pull a positive out of the scoreless affair. In the Bearcats’ post, senior goalkeeper Carrie Martin logged two saves during her 90 minutes of regulation while junior Gaby Gold notched one in the 20 minutes of overtime. The game saw Binghamton’s third trek into overtime (1-0-2), and the team has yet to surrender a goal during extra time.
“Our defense played very well in this game,” McClellan said. “We wanted to go out and get another shutout and they went out and did just that.”
New Hampshire freshman Mimi Borkan, who played the entirety of regulation and both overtimes, recorded seven saves in her first conference game.
The Bearcats are scheduled to continue their America East campaign at home on Thursday against UMBC. The match will be one of only four home games remaining in the season for BU.
“We are really excited to come home for our next game,” McClellan said. “We have a great campus atmosphere, and it gives us an advantage to be able to sleep in our own beds.”
The Retrievers (5-4-2, 0-1 AE) are currently seventh in the conference standings and will attempt to snap a two-game skid. Their 2-1 loss against Maine on Sunday dropped them into their first losing streak of the season.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.