Through its last five games, the Binghamton women’s soccer team has accumulated a 4-1 record. Over a five-year period, BU’s combined record against its next two opponents is 1-5-1.
With just two non-conference games left for the Bearcats (4-4) before opening America East play against Maine next Sunday, they hope to make their upcoming pair of games against St. Bonaventure and Cornell count.
“They’ve been pretty slippery for us,” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said of the Big Red (3-1) and the Bonnies (3-4-1). “We’re definitely looking to really focus more on how we play than on the opponent. Knowing that we let the team[s] slip by us the last couple years, gives us a little more motivation that we really want to perform better and get off to a really good start in the game.”
In their 2012 meeting, the Bonnies bested the Bearcats by a score of 1-0. Facing Cornell in 2013, Binghamton was blanked again, 2-0. But BU has outshot its competition by an average of 13 shots over its last two games, and the team is hoping to carry that momentum into this weekend.
To win, Binghamton will need to capitalize on the early opportunities it has allowed to slip away all too often this season.
“We had a good week of training,” McClellan said. “Everyone on the team knows that we’re capable of playing at a higher level — and were showing that in spurts — but now we’re looking to build it and have longer segments of the game where we’re able to control.”
A pair of wins this weekend will move BU to an advantageous 6-4 record, which should help the morale of a Bearcats squad that has struggled in the days of late September and early October the past few years. However, two Ws on the record sheet isn’t all that McClellan and her team hopes to achieve this weekend.
“We would like to compete and have a great mentality and a lot of toughness in these next two games,” McClellan said. “It’s kind of our last chance to prove a little bit to ourselves as well as get ourselves feeling good and ready to battle the conference.”
BU is set to kick off play at St. Bonaventure on 7 p.m. Friday at McGraw-Jennings Field. They are scheduled to return home to the Bearcats Sports Complex to face the Big Red Sunday at 1 p.m.