There seems to be a promising future for Binghamton athletics this season. While last year’s 2007-2008 seasons had their ups and downs, Bearcat teams are on the rise, primed to go after championships. Last year, many of the Bearcat teams saw themselves fall just short of championships. Men’s golf and soccer, baseball and women’s tennis were all runners-up in their respective championship tournaments.

Other teams were not as successful.

Men’s basketball had a first-round exit in the America East tournament, which was held at Binghamton’s Events Center. Women’s swimming placed sixth in their championship tournament. But while success may not have come to some teams in the tournaments, some individual athletes were still able to find it.

Wrestling sent two individuals (Josh Patterson and Kyle Fried) to the NCAA championships, and Rory Quiller found success on the track, becoming Binghamton’s first athlete to win a national title at the Division I level, placing first in the pole vault. But no matter what each team did last season, they all seem to be thinking the same thing this year: this year is the year of Binghamton!

And so far, the Bearcats are truly off to a great start.

Men’s soccer (1-1-0) beat Lafayette on the last day of the West Virginia Tournament this past weekend. The Bearcats also placed second in the America East preseason poll, behind last year’s AE champion Vermont.

You can bet that the Bearcat Hooligans will be there on the sidelines as the men’s soccer team prepares to redeem themselves and reach the place where they belong: America East champions.

Women’s soccer looks to turn last year’s disappointing 3-12-4 season into a distant memory. And so far they have done exactly that, starting the season off with a 2-1 recording, including a shutout of New Jersey Tech late Sunday evening.

After all, help from freshman standout forward AnnMarie Rizzi is already here. Rizzi gave Binghamton the lead 1-0 against NJT in the first four minutes. What is interesting is that her early goal was not her first. Rizzi scored the winning goal in Binghamton’s 2-1 win over the University of Massachusetts-Amherst last week. It’s a sure shot to say that this Bearcat has begun to earn recognition as a freshman sensation.

First year head coach Sarah McClellan hopes to turn her team’s luck around, and has so far has rightly done so. McClellan, well known for her recruiting practices, brings a breath of fresh air with her excellent resume, including her time as a player on the University of Maryland team, as well as head coach for the Maryland Pride, a team in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.

Without even meeting McClellan or attending a women’s soccer game this year, I tip my hat to the new head coach for her decision to hold an open tryout for the team, to be held today, tomorrow and Thursday. The open tryouts will allow those athletes who have gone under the radar as soccer recruiters searched for the “best” athletes, to have a real shot at impressing McClellan.

And then there is women’s volleyball, who set their sights on the top prize as they knocked Rutgers off in their season opener. Taking part in the Hilton Garden Inn/Northern Arizona University Invitational this weekend, Binghamton defeated Rutgers 3-0. The Bearcats went on to sweep Akron 3-0 the following day, but fell to Northern Arizona 3-0 later on.

Sophomore transfer Anna Lejina, Binghamton’s new outside hitter from Riga, Latvia, smashed Akron with 18 kills. Lejina posted 34 kills in the tournament, averaging 3.77 kills per set. Now 2-1, the volleyball team looks to continue their excellence as they get ready to face Ohio in the first round of the Pitt Classic in Pittsburgh this Friday, Sept. 5.

BU men’s basketball, who for a little while in the 2007-2008 season looked as if they had a significant chance at making their first NCAA appearance, collapsed in the first round of the America East tournament against Vermont. But in his second year as head coach, Kevin Broadus has a few new tricks up his sleeve, including a stunning recruiting class and an intense non-conference schedule. The Bearcats will take on the Big East, Atlantic 10, the Colonial Athletic Association and other big name conferences, hoping to beef up team performance heading into America East conference play.

Broadus was the man who recruited the whole Georgetown team, who in 2006 made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four. Al Walker’s team is starting to fade, Broadus’s team is starting to rise, and I expect that this is the year for the men’s basketball team and for Broadus to really begin to show what they are made of.

Expect every Bearcat team to not go quietly into the night, in what is sure to be a year to remember for Binghamton sports.