In a match that was nearly two hours long and came down to the final minutes of play, the Binghamton women’s soccer team America East (AE) championship hopes came to an end on Thursday night with a 2-1 semifinal loss to UMass Lowell at home. After taking an early lead, BU remained in control during the first half before surrendering a goal to the River Hawks in the second period that brought the game to overtime. From there, BU was unable to put the game away despite multiple scoring opportunities, falling to the River Hawks in double overtime.

“I can’t fault the effort,” said Binghamton head coach Neel Bhattacharjee. “There were certain things that let us down at times, but overall, over the course of 110 minutes, I certainly thought we played some good soccer. It’s just unfortunately, this can be a cruel game, and it was really cruel to us tonight.”

It took just 72 seconds from the opening whistle for BU (6-5-6, 5-0-3 AE) to take control of the game, immediately launching an aggressive attack against the River Hawks (5-6-7, 3-2-3 AE). This attack was produced by a corner kick that resulted in freshman defender Sophia Garofalo sending it dead center into the back of the net to give BU a 1-0 lead.

“There was a little bit of improvisation on that set piece,” Bhattacharjee said. “We expected that perhaps [UMass Lowell] could try something new … So it was good that we got a quick two-man corner, led to a service and eventual finish.”

With BU earning a 1-0 advantage, the game turned into a physical battle for control over the ball from both sides of the action. It would soon be UMass Lowell’s turn to attack during the eighth minute, but the ball was headed out and quickly cleared away from BU’s zone by graduate student midfielder Olivia McKnight. BU would keep UMass Lowell off the board through strong play over contested balls, such as a 50/50 situation converted by sophomore defender Brooke Herber into a Bearcat attack in the 13th minute, although no shot was converted into a goal.

The increasingly physical play from both sides would lead to some corner and free-kick situations. This included a corner kick in the 23rd minute by the River Hawks that made its way to the center of Binghamton’s box — but right into the gloves of junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Williams. The rest of the half would see Binghamton frequently attack UMass Lowell’s box but the Bearcats were unable to convert, entering halftime up 1-0.

“We wanted to break UMass Lowell’s initial pressure and then we knew if he did that, there would have to be some play in the midfield,” Bhattacharjee said. ”I thought we did a good job with that and that led to us having possession.”

The second half began with the same Bearcat offensive tempo it brought to the beginning of the first, but a shot from senior midfielder Molly McClelland was blocked by UMass Lowell in the 46th minute. The midfield duo of McClelland and O. McKnight, with shooting support from senior midfielder Victoria McKnight, continued to put pressure on the River Hawks with their speed and footwork, but they couldn’t find another goal for Binghamton.

Instead, it was UMass Lowell who got on the board first in the half off of an 18-yard shot to the left in the 68th minute to tie the game at one. Now a tied game, the last 20 minutes of play would be a trade of attacks and shots between both teams. Despite close looks from both sides, neither could put the ball away as the game went into overtime.

After a frantic first overtime period that saw neither team put up a score, the River Hawks broke past BU’s defense in the 101st minute to find the back of the net off a corner kick to start double overtime with a 2-1 lead. The Bearcats went on the attack for the remainder of the match, including a shot on goal in the final five seconds by sophomore forward Lauren Clark that ended up in the hands of UMass Lowell’s keeper. Ultimately, when the final whistle sounded, the score remained at 2-1 in favor of River Hawks as Binghamton’s season came to an abrupt end.

“We were hungry to tie it, at a minimum send it to [penalty kicks],” Bhattacharjee said. “We had some great looks … just one of those nights where we had good looks and [the] ball couldn’t fall on the back of the net.”

The Bearcats’ season ends with their second-consecutive AE regular season title and an array of conference honors. Senior defense Lexi Vegoda alongside O. McKnight earned first-team all-conference honors, with O. McKnight also winning AE Midfielder of the Year. Williams and Herber slotted themselves onto the All-Conference Second Team, while freshman forward Paige Luke won AE Rookie of the Year and joined Garofalo on the All-Rookie Team.

“I’m just really happy with everything that the team has been able to provide,” Bhattacharjee said. “Really happy for all the contributions that the upperclassmen have been able to provide … This is just way too fresh, but we’ll rebound from this, and we’ll be back.”