Although the Binghamton men’s soccer team opened its 2015 campaign in red-hot form, it appears that the Bearcats (5-4) seem to have hit a wall. After dropping Saturday night’s match against Princeton, 3-1, BU now finds itself in the midst of its first losing streak of the season.
The typically rock-solid Binghamton back line looked out of sorts against a potent Princeton (3-2) attack, allowing the Tigers the necessary space to wreak havoc in the Bearcats’ penalty box.
“I think any time you concede three goals it’s a concern, but I would say that I think we can do a better job,” said BU head coach Paul Marco. “I have to give some credit to Princeton. They did score a couple of quite good goals, but I felt like the manner at which we were defending around the 60-minute mark wasn’t good enough.”
The Bearcats shot for the lead from the sound of the first whistle, as junior forward Alex Varkatzas put up the match’s opening shot on goal just 14 seconds into play. Varkatzas’ shot, however, was fired directly at Princeton’s outstretched junior goalkeeper Josh Haberman.
Binghamton retained control throughout the opening 25 minutes, as the Tigers found their feet toward the end of the half. Both teams appeared quite tentative during the first period, with neither side creating any clear-cut opportunities, ending the first 45 in a 0-0 draw.
In the second half, however, the two foes played a very different match. The Tigers finally capitalized on their abundance of scoring chances in the 62nd minute when senior forward Thomas Sanner deflected a long-range free kick from senior midfielder Brendan McSherry into the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Princeton struck again. After receiving the ball on the right flank, junior back Greg Seifert crossed to an unmarked Sanner, who effortlessly dispatched the ball past junior goalkeeper Robert Moewes for his first of the match and fourth of the season.
The Bearcats’ disappointing night continued in the 77th minute following a devastating Princeton counterattack. Freshman defender Jeremy Colvin managed to slip Seifert in behind the Binghamton back line, who slotted the ball into the corner of the net to extend Princeton’s lead to 3-0.
The lone bright spot of the night came in the 81st minute, when senior midfielder Bret Celeste floated the ball over Haberman’s head and into the net. The Tigers’ chance at a shutout may have been foiled, but they comfortably saw out the remaining nine minutes of the match to solidify the 3-1 score.
“I thought that we played very well in the first half,” Marco said. “We had a pretty good game plan going in, and I thought it was working quite well. We talked at halftime about some of the adjustments they might make, and what we were gonna need from our team in the second half, and I felt like we kind of let ourselves down.”
On the stat sheet, Princeton and Binghamton registered relatively evenly. Both tallied 13 shots and three saves while Princeton held a slight edge in shots on goal, 6-4. But while the two teams may have looked level on paper, it was Princeton’s ability to finish its opportunities that led to the win.
Binghamton is set to take on St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. Play is set to kickoff at 7 p.m. at the Marra Fields Athletic Complex in Olean, New York.