In the midst of a two-game scoring drought, it took the Binghamton women’s soccer team less than 11 minutes to find the back of the net against Niagara on Friday. But the Bearcats (1-3-1) struggled to recapture that scoring rhythm over the weekend, losing, 2-1 to the Purple Eagles before concluding the weekend with a 1-0 loss at Siena.
“We had good energy, we had a great competitive spirit,” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said after the loss. “A few mistakes that we need to clean up on both sides of the ball, but a step forward, and a full 90 minute competition against a good team.”
Binghamton kicked off the match with two consecutive shots, but found the scoreboard on the heels of a corner kick. Junior forward Leighann Bennett connected with senior forward Stephani Church who flicked the ball into the goal to put BU on top, 1-0. In the backfield the Bearcats staved off the Purple Eagles (2-1-1) early in the half, with sophomore goalkeeper Katie Hatziyanis collecting three saves in the game’s opening 33 minutes. But Niagara scored on a corner kick of its own in the game’s 36th minute after redshirt senior forward Haillie Price headed in the equalizer to tie the match at one going into the half.
Wasting no time, the Purple Eagles got back on the scoreboard in just 57 seconds into the second half. After a miscue in the BU backfield, Price scored her second of the day on an empty Binghamton net. Looking to tie the score, Binghamton fired five shots over the course of the half — including four from senior midfielder Katherine Corcoran — but was unable to find the net. The defeat marked the end of Binghamton’s four-game home stint before finishing out non-conference play with seven consecutive away contests.
“We’re going to have to adjust for every single game because it’s going to be a different surface, different field setup, different environment,” McClellan said. “It’s going to be a great test and great challenge for us getting ready for conference.”
The first of the Bearcats’ road challengers this season was Sunday’s game against Siena, which carried a two-game shutout streak into the contest. But not to be counted out offensively, Siena (2-1-2) only needed 96 seconds from the game’s opening whistle to get past the BU backfield, as sophomore forward Kelsey Horst scored to put the Saints up early, 1-0.
“I thought we just had a little bit of a lapse in the first two minutes and then really played pretty even,” McClellan said. “But we just weren’t able to find the back of the net.”
However, that isn’t to say that Binghamton didn’t have its chances at the Siena goal. After the game’s 10th minute, the Bearcats outshot their host, 6-4, for the remainder of the period. But Siena kept its one-goal edge at the end of 45.
To open the game’s second half, Bennett forced the Saints’ first save of the day with a shot on goal in the 53rd minute, but Binghamton’s scoring drought continued. While receiving only one corner kick chance against Siena’s four, the Bearcats were only slightly edged in the shot battle, 13-11, and managed to draw zero offsides calls while Siena earned four. But Horst’s early goal held up, as Siena won the match, 1-0. The loss extends BU’s winless streak to four games.
While room still remains for improvement, McClellan was pleased by her team’s performance over the weekend. Midway through its non-conference season, BU has only four more opportunities to get its game to top form in time for the America East Conference.
“I told the team that it won’t get any easier,” McClellan said. “Next weekend we have two tough opponents again. We have to keep making our adjustments, our improvements and continuing to make progress is key.”
Binghamton is set to continue non-conference action against Buffalo at 7 p.m. on Friday from UB Stadium in Buffalo, New York.