The Binghamton University men’s soccer team went into its match this past Saturday afternoon with a 2-6 record away from the Bearcats Sports Complex, including a 0-2 record in road conference games. Going into the second game of a three-game road trip, they could have let it get to their heads, but Saturday they showed they were taking a steadfast approach.
After 89 minutes of back and forth action, redshirt freshman Matt Kristek rifled the game-winning goal past Catamount senior goalkeeper Tom Critz with just 21 seconds remaining to give the Bearcats a 2-1 victory at the University of Vermont. With the win, the Bearcats (8-6-1, 3-2 America East) clinched their seventh straight AE tournament appearance.
“It felt great,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco about clinching the tournament spot. “It’s something the guys have been working for. One of the goals we had set out for ourselves was to make it back to the tournament, and Saturday the guys played well enough to put us back in.”
Team captain senior Liam Carson put the Bearcats on the board 27 minutes into the match, after a shot from junior Scott Zobre rebounded to him. It was Carson’s first goal of the season.
Marco was pleased with how the Bearcats came out ready to go in the first half.
“We started the match off very well,” he said. “We were on top of the game, we had the ball, we were threatening their goal, and then we got a goal. We were on top of the match the whole first half.”
Binghamton has now had 13 different players score at least one goal this season.
“We’ve had many guys score goals,” Marco said. “That was one of the things coming into the season — Who was going to be our goal scorer? — since we graduated a couple of guys that really banged in goals for us. If you look at the team, everybody is helping out in some way, getting a goal or an assist. It truly has been a collective effort.”
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, the second half did not start out as well as the first did. In the 66th minute, junior Kyle Luetkehans scored his first goal of the season for Vermont to tie the game at 1-1, heading in a ball past Binghamton senior goalkeeper Jason Stenta off a cross.
“In the second half, the wind was a little bit in our face, and Vermont came out inspired,” Marco said. “They were on top of the match from a competitive standpoint, pushing forward, trying to get the equalizer. They [got] the equalizer, and then the game was back and forth.”
Both teams were craving the win. Binghamton could ill-afford to lose another road match, and Vermont came in with just one victory on the season. Down the stretch though, it was Binghamton who showed that it wanted it more.
“We got back on top of the game with about 10 minutes left,” Marco said. “On the winning goal, we kind of caught them in a counter-attack. Scott [Zobre] does a great job of running with the ball, ran about 15 to 20 yards with the ball, and found Kristek. Kristek made no mistakes; he smashed it past the goalkeeper. It was a great goal.”
Zobre doubled his assist total in the game, bringing it to four assists on the season, which is second best on the team behind senior Kyle Kucharski’s six assists. Zobre’s improved decision making has been crucial for the Bearcats.
“He’s starting to grow more maturity on the ball,” Marco said of Zobre. “He’s starting to make better decisions when he gets it. Instead of being one-dimensional he’s now being multidimensional.”
With a spot in the America East tournament locked up, Marco feels that the players will be a bit more relaxed on the pitch.
“Now with the soccer ball, maybe the guys won’t feel as much pressure to score goals,” he said. “And maybe they’ll end up scoring more goals because they’re trying to do the right thing, not just trying to do anything.”
The Bearcats are scheduled to finish up their three-game road trip Wednesday afternoon at the University of New Hampshire. The Wildcats are undefeated in conference play, and have secured the top seed in the America East tournament. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.