Call it the curse of the goalkeeper. Jason Stenta turned in one of his career-best performances against one of the nation’s top teams, but one botched play by Maryland turned into a goal that nullified his evening’s accomplishments.
Behind Matt Kassel’s late goal, No. 4 Maryland Terrapins (7-2-0) downed Binghamton University’s men’s soccer team (5-2-3) 1-0 on Tuesday.
After making a career-high 10 saves, Stenta had his team in a scoreless tie and poised to enter overtime. Kassel’s goal came in the 78th minute off a loose ball that was headed by several players in Binghamton’s defensive box. When the ball landed in front of Kassel, he crushed a shot past Stenta into the right corner of the goal.
Maryland’s goal was preceded by a period of aggressive play by the Terrapins and tenacious defense by the Bearcats.
“They have a very good back line and a great goalkeeper in Jason Stenta,” Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski told bubearcats.com.
Stenta and his defense turning in a gutsy performance at Maryland’s Ludwig Field is particularly impressive because Terp student fans are known to stand behind the visiting goal and taunt the opponent’s backline. Binghamton was helped in that regard by a lightning storm midway through the first half that delayed the game for over an hour. The storm halved the student attendance and helped Binghamton regroup from a tough first half.
The Bearcats looked overmatched in the first half, as Maryland took 12 shots in the period to Binghamton’s three. Stenta made nine of his 10 saves in the first period.
After the lightning delay, Maryland still mostly controlled possession, but Binghamton played more aggressively on the counterattack. Senior Justin Leskow made runs on the wing but his teammates were unable to convert his crosses into goals. The Bearcats’ best scoring chance came in the 59th minute when Darren McAllister hit the crossbar. Binghamton only placed one other shot on goal.
“We gave Maryland problems at times tonight,” said Binghamton coach Paul Marco. “We were very good on the counter-attack. We hit the post before they scored so it could have been 1-0 us with them chasing us the rest of the game.”
On the Friday prior to the match against Maryland, the Bearcats defeated regional rival Cornell (1-6-0) 1-0 in a reprise of Binghamton’s 2007 victory.
Last year’s match against Cornell marked the first game at the Bearcats Sports Complex. Junior Cameron Keith scored a hat trick in the 3-0 Binghamton victory.
On Friday, Keith again tormented the Big Red with a game-winning goal that was assisted by senior Mark Wood and freshman Ryan Walter.
“We played well and are delighted to get through and get the win,” Keith said.
The Bearcats begin America East play on Wednesday against Albany.
– Former Pipe Dream Sports editor Sean Lishansky contributed to this report.