Having already delved into double-overtime in games against both Maine and Stony Brook, the Binghamton women’s soccer team is no stranger to the extra pressure it saw against Albany on Thursday night. But putting up 32 shots on offense without a goal to show in the effort is a first for the Bearcats (5-8-2, 1-2-2 America East) in 2014.
BU came out hot against the Great Danes (5-7-4, 2-1-2 AE), opening with a pair of exciting near-misses by junior forwards Samantha Crane and Stephani Church. With the defense coming up big in the opening half, keeping Albany’s chances limited in BU’s third, the Great Danes would not tally their first shot until the 22nd minute.
Though junior midfielder Katherine Corcoran was the focal point of the Binghamton offense, tallying five of her game’s 10 shots in the first half, the closest that BU came to a score in the first half was off a breakaway by freshman forward Jocelyn Acor. In the 42nd minute, the speedy freshman won a two-on-one opportunity against two UAlbany defenders, but junior keeper Alana Brennan stopped Acor’s best chance – collecting the fifth of her 11 saves on the day.
Starting the second half with a sizable 13-1 shot advantage against Albany, Binghamton wasted no time launching its offense back into the attack zone. Corcoran forced another Brennan save in the 47th minute, taking the Bearcats’ first shot of the half and her sixth of the contest. With the BU defense also working on the field to create stops and prevent the Great Dane offense from gaining momentum of its own, Binghamton wouldn’t allow Albany to record a shot in the second 45.
On the other end of the field, BU continued its dominant, yet frustrating, offensive performance. After Corcoran’s opening shot in the 47th minute, the Bearcats recorded six more in a 15-minute span – none of which saw the back of the net.
“We just have to keep shooting and believing,” said BU head coach Sarah McClellan, according to a release on bubearcats.com. “That same work rate will make us a tough team to play each and every game.”
Binghamton outshot Albany 14-0 through the period, but with the game still stuck at a scoreless stalemate between the two rivals at regulation’s end, the dominant BU performance would have to find its conclusion in overtime.
Overtime opened with a shot by Albany sophomore defender Bianca Webb – the Great Dane’s first shot in 71 minutes. After the save by BU freshman keeper Katie Hatziyianis, the Binghamton offense was back in attack mode, taking the next five shots in the 10-minute period, with three on goal. Yet the Bearcats found no luck in the first overtime period, forcing their second consecutive game to last over 100 minutes.
In the second overtime, Albany succeeded at silencing the Binghamton offense. Neither the Bearcats nor the Great Danes tallied a shot in the final period, and BU’s prolific performance ended in a 0-0 tie despite its 32-2 shot advantage.
“We got the shutout and did a great job for 110 minutes,” McClellan said. “Our players hustled every play and the entire team was focused on the task at hand. I’m proud of the way we played tonight. I think we did everything in our control.”
Binghamton is set to play its fifth AE match Sunday against New Hampshire for its final regular-season home match of the season. With the Bearcats and the Wildcats (4-8-2, 1-2-2 AE) both standing at 1-2-2 in conference play, Sunday’s game could play a role in determining the recipient of the the sixth and final spot in the America East Championship later this month.
With BU currently riding its most potent offense of the season and with only UNH, last-place Vermont and UMBC left to play in the AE, McClellan believes that her team is in a good place:
“I wouldn’t want to play [against] us right now.”
The Bearcats are set to kickoff against New Hampshire at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.