On Tuesday, the Binghamton men’s soccer team played its final match of a three-game homestand in a hard-fought affair against Hofstra. In its last game before conference play begins, BU was unable to find the first win of the season, falling 1-0 to the Pride.

“Well, I think the group took another good step forward,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “We didn’t get the result, but we had a very good performance again tonight. I think we’re really close, and what a fantastic game to watch. Very fast, electric pace and good moments. I just thought we maybe lacked more courage in the box and with crosses. But overall, I’m still pleased with the performance — the guys are getting better. We’re getting fitter, we’re getting healthier, but we need to turn the corner here with getting some goals and some Ws.”

The Bearcats (0-5-2) and Hofstra (5-2-0, 2-1-0 Colonial Athletic Association [CAA]) both came out battling, with chances on both ends of the pitch in the first half, as well as goal-saving defensive plays from keepers and defenders alike. Binghamton faced shots early, including a penalty kick that came 13 minutes in. Senior goalkeeper Mats Roorda had to face an early penalty kick after sophomore back Carlo Cavalar committed a foul in the box. Although the Pride shooter put his shot on net, Roorda’s dive to the bottom left-hand corner saw the ball fall safely into his hands.

“I thought Mats was outstanding,” Marco said. “He commanded the box. He made saves when he had to. His distribution was good. He had a complete performance tonight.”

The senior finished the match with four saves and is now the first goalkeeper for the Bearcats to save a penalty since his teammate, redshirt senior goalkeeper P.J. Parker, did against UMBC last October.

“[Penalty kicks] for goalies, in my opinion, are a notion of luck,” Roorda said. “I’m lucky I made the right decision to dive to the left corner. I tried to play a little bit of mind games, make a move to the right and then dive to the left, and that thankfully worked. I’m happy I was able to help the team with that one and keep the ball out of the goal.”

The winning goal came in the 54th minute. Hofstra attacked from the right-hand side, sending a cross into the crowded penalty area — where it was guided into the net from inside the six-yard box. After some deliberation over whether or not the ball came off a Binghamton or Hofstra player, it was ruled a goal for the away side and sealed the Pride’s victory.

While Roorda was the standout performer for the Bearcats, graduate student forward Ethan Homler and redshirt junior midfielder Anthony Lazaridis also showed quality in attack. They linked up the offense and gave the home side opportunities to equalize. BU came close to an equalizer in the final 10 minutes, but the Hofstra keeper made a late save to keep his shutout alive.

“I thought [Homler] and [Lazaridis] both did a pretty good job,” Marco said. “They still can have better moments [and] concentration on a final pass or a cross, but both of them worked their butts off. They put themselves all over the field. We got two really quality chances at the end of the game from them. So yeah, I think both guys have done a pretty good job for us.”

This match marks the last of a three-game homestand, where the Bearcats have come out with two ties and a loss. Despite still looking for its first win, BU now moves into the start of conference play, where the defending champions, Vermont, await them.

“I thought that [Hofstra] would be very similar to Vermont, so hopefully tonight’s match gives us a little bit of a look of what we might see,” Marco said. “I thought that a few guys showed that they can perform at that level. I thought [Cavalar] had a really good game today. I thought [sophomore midfielder Diego Vargas] played pretty well today. So getting those two guys firing will certainly help the group. And yeah, why not play Vermont first?”

The Bearcats will begin AE Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 24 against the Catamounts. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Virtue Fields in Burlington, Vermont.