A No. 2 seed and first round bye in the America East tournament were there for the taking on Sunday, but Binghamton University’s men’s soccer team missed the opportunity with its third straight road loss.
In their regular season finale, the Bearcats (10-5-3, 5-3-0 AE) dropped a 1-0 game to eighth-place Maine (5-9-2, 2-5-1 AE), a team that has won only three conference games in the last three years. Despite the loss, Binghamton hung on to the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 New Hampshire in a quarterfinal match on Saturday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
In the 28th minute, Binghamton goalie Jason Stenta lost the ball in the sun as Maine’s Corey Sinclair knocked a pass over Stenta’s head. Jake Ostrov tapped the ball into the goal for the game’s only score.
“The goal was a pretty bad goal to give up. It was their only good chance,” said Binghamton junior Cameron Keith. “It was a really lucky goal.”
The Bearcats outshot the Black Bears, 18-9, but Maine stuffed eight or nine defenders into the box to protect its lead.
“Maine did very well getting guys in the box to defend,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco.
Binghamton also had 18 corner kicks in the match. Though the Bearcats had been excellent on corners in recent games, scoring most of their goals in those situations, the Black Bears thwarted all 18 opportunities.
“Some of the deliveries were good from Boz [Barry Neville] and Woodsy [Mark Wood],” Keith said. “Some boys were just jumping too early or too late. Nothing was getting on target. They brought a lot of guys into the box and were able to clear them all out.”
According to Marco and Keith, a shot by Cody Germain hit a Maine defender on the hand at the goal line in the last minute of the game. Any handball in the restricted box should result in a penalty kick for the offense, but the referees did not see the play. The Bearcats were also frustrated when Scott Zobre was taken down in the box in the first half — another potential penalty kick opportunity — but the foul was not called.
Binghamton’s defense, particularly Kyle Kucharski, played well outside of the goal it gave up. The Bearcats are currently ranked No. 5 nationally in goals against average. The offense was another story. Despite the 18-9 shooting margin, Binghamton did not have many clear opportunities to even the score.
“Their keeper never really had anything to do,” Keith said. “We had a lot of possessions in the box where we didn’t do much. Our shots went long and high. We just never really created proper chances.”
The loss was Binghamton’s third in four conference road games. Since the BSC was constructed, the Bearcats are a perfect 8-0 at home but a dismal 2-6 away in America East play.
“I don’t know what it is,” Keith said. “We thought we turned it around when we won at Stony Brook last year and Albany this year. But for some reason we then went and lost three games away from home. It’s hard for me to put my finger on what has happened. It seems like we’ve missed a bit of luck this season away from home.”
“I won’t say there’s one reason we are playing better at home than away,” Marco said. “You’re playing at home, sleeping in your bed. Maine’s a long trip, and you don’t have that trip at home.”
Marco did not think transitioning from the BSC’s new turf to uneven grass in away games was the cause of his team’s struggles on the road, because the Bearcats soundly defeated No. 2 Albany on grass.
Had Binghamton won against Maine, it would have secured a No. 2 seed and a first round bye. Instead, the Bearcats will host No. 6 New Hampshire on Saturday in a rematch of the rainiest game of the season, a 2-0 Bearcats victory. Should Binghamton win, it will advance to a road game next Wednesday against Albany in the semifinals. Boston University won the regular season crown and No. 1 seed with a victory over Hartford on Saturday.
“I like the fact that we are going to play a game sooner after the outcome of this weekend,” Marco said. “I want to get us back on track; if you fall off a horse, you want to get right back on it. If I asked my team after the Maine loss if they would play Maine again right away, they would have been out there the next day wanting to play again.”
The Bearcats enter into their postseason ranked No. 5 overall in defense in NCAA Division I men’s soccer. This marks the fourth time in the last six seasons Binghamton has been nationally ranked. Stenta also ranks fifth nationally with a .854 save percentage and eighth in the nation with a .54 goals against average.
Binghamton is set to play sixth-seeded New Hampshire in the quarter finals of the America East tournament at 7 p.m. on Saturday.