Shutouts have been a common occurrence for the Binghamton University women’s soccer team in 2012, and the trend continued this weekend, as the Bearcats were blanked by Marist College and University of Hartford. Binghamton is now 4-4 in shutouts.
On Friday night, the Bearcats (6-4, 0-1 America East) traveled to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to take on a Red Fox (6-5) squad that entered the contest with 10 straight home wins, dating back to 2011. The Bearcats were unable to find the back of the net in what head coach Sarah McClellan called an odd game. Her team fell, 2-0.
The Red Foxes struck in the third minute, as junior midfielder Rycke Guiney converted from six yards out after an initial deflected shot.
“It wasn’t the best start to the game for us, and the first real attack Marist had they ended up scoring,” McClellan said.
Marist was able to tack on another in the 57th minute when sophomore midfielder Marjana Maksuti volleyed in her own rebound after heading the ball into the woodwork. The Bearcats were penalized only nine times, as opposed to the Red Foxes, who got blown for 22 fouls.
“Every time we possessed the ball we were getting fouled, so there was no kind of rhythm to our attack,” McClellan said.
Junior goalkeepers Carrie Martin and Stephanie Speirs split time in goal, recording a save apiece.
Though dropping the final tune-up before conference play was not ideal, the Bearcats finished their non-conference slate at 6-3.
“We’re pretty happy about how we did and what we showed in the non-conference segment of the season,” McClellan said.
On Sunday, Binghamton opened America East play against Hartford (5-2-3, 1-0 America East), falling 1-0 in dramatic fashion.
The Hawks, who were ranked No. 2 in the conference preseason poll, grabbed a late winner in the 86th minute when senior striker Amelia Pereira converted from the penalty kick spot. McClellan said the spot of the foul was borderline.
“We probably shouldn’t have allowed the play to occur, so we could have prevented the whole situation,” McClellan said. “It was on the line of the 18, so I think with four minutes left in the game, which was pretty even … that’s a really tough call to make.”
The Bearcats were able to put three shots on goal while the Hawks were able to manage two, showing just how light the whole affair was.
“We had some really good opportunities,” McClellan said. “We’re just one dribble short, one pass short of having an open chance. We just have to keep grinding away.”
Martin and Speirs again split the 90 minutes evenly, with Speirs being called upon to make one save.
Binghamton begins conference play 0-1 and will look to get its season back on track against University of New Hampshire at home later this week.
“We had some really positive things to take away from [Hartford], so I think we’re going to work really hard to stay positive because we know we’re a very good [team],” McClellan said.
The Wildcats didn’t have as impressive of a non-conference performance as the Bearcats, finishing at 2-6-1. They are just 1-5 on the road, but will enter Thursday’s match with two consecutive victories after beating College of the Holy Cross and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the conference opener.
Kickoff against UNH is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.