On Sunday afternoon, the Binghamton women’s soccer team ended its nonconference slate of play with a 2-0 road victory at Le Moyne. The Bearcats threatened Le Moyne’s goal throughout the entire match, scoring once in each half and outshooting the Dolphins 18-4 through two halves of play.

“Overall I was pleased with the effort,” said Binghamton head coach Neel Bhattacharjee. “Certainly pleased with what we did defensively, not allowing a shot on goal over the course of 90 minutes. I can’t really think of a time where I thought Le Moyne was threatening us, so I was pleased in that regard.”

BU (3-3-2) were quick to get out of the gate, with a strike on the Le Moyne (1-7-0) goal courtesy of senior forward Hannah Mimas in the sixth minute. BU’s stout back four prevented several attempted counterattacks as they continued to attack the Dolphins’ net. The stalemate was nearly broken when senior forward Mackenzie Ryder got a good look on goal, but her shot narrowly went out right, as the match remained tied at 0-0.

“I think we’ve had some time to focus on things with the defensive side,” Bhattacharjee said. “When you look at the first couple of weeks, we play on Thursdays and Sundays, and it’s very difficult to get a training rhythm … So it’s nice that we actually had some time to focus on some things we wanted to work on.”

Binghamton continued its strong offensive performance throughout the remainder of the first half, and they finally lit up the scoreboard in the 28th minute when Ryder scored off an assist from freshman midfielder Anna Buckwalter. Despite taking the lead, the Bearcats would not let up on offense, netting another shot on goal just two minutes later. In the 30th minute, following a corner kick, Ryder got her third strong look on goal, missing out to the right. The Bearcats’ offense began to slow down in the closing end of the half, as Le Moyne registered its first shot in the 44th minute to close out the first half.

“I also think we paid a good amount of attention in terms of what we wanted to do within our midfield,” Bhattacharjee said. “Just in terms of our midfield shape and our midfield pressure and that’s really helped us in terms of how we defend together as a team, it doesn’t just come down to our backline and our goalkeeper, it’s a total team effort.”

Coming out of halftime, BU yet again was quick to apply pressure on the Dolphins’ goal, with freshman forward Jahkaya Davis striking a shot on goal just nine seconds after kickoff. Le Moyne, however, was quick to respond, going on their strongest run of the game, outshooting BU 3-1. By the 61st minute, BU had regained control of the match, and Buckwalter managed her second shot on goal of the match. BU continued to build attacks when the opportunity arose, but an offside call in the 67th stopped a potential run.

“What we talked about is putting in complete 90-minute performances, because we’ve done well here and there, [and] we’ve done well for halves,” Bhattacharjee said. “So for us, we wanted to put in completed performances, and certainly, I thought that was an example for what you saw today.”

Looking to put the nail in the Dolphins’ coffin, sophomore midfielder Bella Brown, Buckwalter and Mimas rattled off one, one and two shots respectively, but they were unable to find the back of the net. The Bearcats’ victory securing goal came in the 86th minute when Mimas finally found the back of the net off an assist from Ryder, as they came out on top of Le Moyne 2-0. Binghamton outshot Le Moyne 18-4, and their back four allowed zero shots on goal throughout the match.

“We start [conference play] with the big one against Maine,” Bhattacharjee said. “The team that finished right behind us in the regular season, but ended up winning the post-season tournament … So we’re looking forward to the challenge, and getting these wins under our belt certainly helps us to have some momentum going into that.”

Binghamton will begin its America East slate on Sunday, Sept. 22 against Maine. Kickoff is set for noon at Ted Grant Field in Orono, Maine.