This past weekend may have been fall break for the majority of Binghamton’s campus, but for the men’s soccer team, this weekend marked yet another conference matchup, this time in Lowell, Massachusetts, as the Bearcats (3-8-2, 2-2-0 America East) took on the River Hawks. Looking for a victory after its first conference loss to Stony Brook last weekend, Binghamton came up short, falling 3-0 to UMass Lowell (7-4-2, 2-2-0 AE).
The River Hawks began the match aggressively on offense, netting a goal just three minutes and eight seconds into play. For the remainder of the period, the Bearcats attempted to make up the deficit. Sophomore midfielder Noah Luescher logged two corner kicks and three shots, and senior midfielder Harrison Weilbacher contributed a shot as well. However, the half ended at 1-0.
In the second half, the Bearcats were able to hold off the River Hawks for about 16 minutes of play before UMass Lowell put its second shot behind the line. Less than a minute later, they grabbed another goal, pushing the score to 3-0 with under 30 minutes left in the match.
Substituting redshirt junior Chris Shutler for redshirt sophomore Isaiah Pettis in goal, it appeared BU head coach Paul Marco was trying to turn the tide of the match in the last few minutes. Despite the change in goalkeepers and a display of offensive energy from the rest of the squad, the Bearcats’ efforts to play catch up proved futile. Binghamton fell to UMass Lowell in a 3-0 shutout.
Pettis and Shutler collected a combined three saves. Despite them spending only 23 minutes of play in goal, two of the saves were courtesy of Pettis. Meanwhile, the additional save, and all three of the goals allowed, occurred during Shutler’s 66 minutes as the keeper.
The game featured two yellow cards on UMass Lowell players redshirt junior back Chase Reichenberg and sophomore back Giuseppe Granara. The River Hawks also posted twice as many fouls as the Bearcat squad, committing 12 to Binghamton’s six.
The loss puts the Bearcats in sixth place in the AE conference standings with a 2-2 AE record. They have just three conference matches left in the season to earn a bid in the AE postseason tournament that they failed to qualify for in 2017. Before the Bearcats jump back into conference play, however, they have one last nonconference matchup against Bucknell. The Bisons (5-4-3) are currently ranked third in their conference.
Binghamton will take on Bucknell Tuesday, Oct 16. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.