After 919 minutes and nine games, the Binghamton women’s soccer team scored a goal at home on Thursday night against Stony Brook. Firing off 20 shots in regulation, the Bearcats (1-11-2, 0-4-1 America East) took the field with a purpose on offense, forcing the Seawolves (5-7-3, 2-2-1 AE) to make seven saves through 110 minutes of play. But two overtime periods weren’t enough for BU to strike again, and the team was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against its conference rival — ending their 11 game losing streak.
The Bearcats showed their claws early on offense with an aggressive opening 20 minutes. Binghamton outshot Stony Brook, 7-4, over the first 30 minutes before sophomore midfielder Valerie McNamara found the bac of the net to put Binghamton up, 1-0. The Bearcats continued to control possession through the first half, registering three more shots before the closing whistle. But BU didn’t finish those shots and headed into halftime up, 1-0.
“We got some really good chances [in the first half],” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said. “We have to feel good about our ability to create those at this point.”
Following two shots in the opening five minutes by senior midfielder Katherine Corcoran, the two squads continued to battle through the final 45. BU managed to find multiple breakaway and point-blank opportunities on the SBU net, but junior goalkeeper Emily Doherty would not be bested, collecting seven saves in the half.
“We managed both their speed and their technical ability,” McClellan said. “I thought we kept a lot of their shots to pretty routine shots for [sophomore goalkeeper] Katie [Hatziyianis].”
On offense, SBU found its groove in the 68th minute when junior forward Raven Edwards snuck a header past the Binghamton goal to earn her ninth score of the season. With the equalizer in net, BU and SBU played out the remaining 22 minutes scoreless.
In the opening overtime period, Stony Brook captured a 3-2 shot advantage as well as a corner kick opportunity. The Binghamton defense, however, managed to stave off the Seawolves effort in the 10-minute period. In the second overtime, BU tallied its final shot of the evening off the foot of Corcoran before SBU took back possession. But after a save by Hatziyianis and a wide shot in SBU’s final attempt, the game finished 1-1.
Binghamton is set to return to action on the road against Maine on Sunday. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mahaney Diamond in Orono, Maine.