After sneaking into the playoffs on the season’s final day, the Binghamton University women’s soccer team powered past University of New Hampshire in the America East quarterfinals, shutting out the Wildcats for a 1-0 win. But in the semifinals, the Bearcats were pitted against nationally ranked and top-seeded Boston University, who abruptly put an end to Binghamton’s season with a 2-1 victory.
Just 2:22 into the game at New Hampshire (5-11-2, 3-4-1 America East), senior midfielder Taylor Kucharski sent a shot past Wildcat sophomore goalkeeper Erica Correa for a 1-0 lead.
Despite being outshot by New Hampshire the rest of the way, Binghamton (6-9-1, 3-4-1 AE) preserved its early lead to advance to the semifinals.
Binghamton head coach Sarah McClellan credited her team’s toughness and defensive persistence as the primary factors behind the road to victory.
“I think [winning on the road] is obviously a difficult thing to do, especially when it’s a playoff game,” McClellan said. “I thought our team really showed a lot of commitment and toughness to battle on the road like they did.”
In the semifinal round at Boston, Binghamton wasn’t able to channel the same fast start. Instead, the Terriers struck first.
Bearcat sophomore goalkeeper Carrie Martin surrendered an 18th-minute goal to Boston senior Brittany Heist. Terrier sophomore Madison Clemens then found the back of the net again in the 37th minute to put the Terriers ahead 2-0.
The Bearcats recorded only two first-half shots while the Terriers launched 11, but McClellan was pleased with her team’s overall execution in the first half.
“I thought it was a possession-oriented, tactical game,” she said. “I was really happy with how we played tactically in the first half, with the exception of two or three plays.”
To begin the second half, McClellan summoned sophomore keeper Stephanie Speirs to replace Martin, who had allowed the two first-half goals. Boston notched the first four shots after the break, but Speirs saved two while the others sailed wide.
In the 65th minute, Binghamton broke through as senior Mary DeWitte fed junior Sarah Furminger, who netted a goal to cut the Terriers’ lead in half.
“We had Boston on the ropes for a little while after that goal,” McClellan said. “Their team changed to a more defensive system to try to hold the lead, and I thought until the final whistle that we had a chance to tie the game up and head into overtime.”
Along with the efforts of the Binghamton defense, Speirs, who saved four Boston shots, held the opposition scoreless for the remainder of the match. But the Bearcats mustered just two more shots, missing both and inevitably losing the game, 2-1.
Boston heads to the conference finals where it will face University at Albany in the America East championship at 1 p.m. tomorrow. The Terriers, who have dominated the conference tournament in years past, will look to capture their fifth consecutive tournament championship and their ninth since 2000.
As for Binghamton, McClellan said her team expressed mixed emotions after the loss.
“I think we were disappointed because we did want to go further, but I also think we felt somewhat positive about the way we competed and the performance we put out there,” she said.
After falling by a much wider margin of 4-1 in their regular season match with the Terriers, the Bearcats produced a better performance this time.
As McClellan stated, the Bearcats remained alive until the final whistle, something the team grew accustomed to in 2011. Nine of the team’s 10 losses came by just one goal, three of which came in overtime.
McClellan cited her team’s ability to compete with everyone on its schedule as a reason for optimism in 2012.
“The next step is now can we string wins together throughout the season, and can we be on the other side of some of these closer games,” she said. “I think that’s what this season kind of helped proved to us — that we are very close to getting to the next level as a program.”
McClellan credited her defense for preventing the opposition from scoring, which offset Binghamton’s frequent offensive struggles. Binghamton allowed 0.83 goals per game, finishing third in the America East in scoring defense.
The team will have a different look next year without Kucharski and fellow seniors DeWitte, Jennifer Abbate and AnnMarie Rizzi, but McClellan’s squad will return with plenty of talent and experience.
Juniors Sarah Furminger and Candice Rowland tied for second on the team with six points, and freshman Connie Gormley was named to the America East All-Rookie team this week.
“We definitely feel optimistic going forward as we prepare for next season,” McClellan said.