Following its 1-0 loss against No.19 Hofstra last Tuesday, the Binghamton men’s soccer team returned home to continue America East (AE) play against NJIT as the match concluded in a 1-1 tie. While the Bearcats sustained an early lead and maintained it throughout the majority of the match, the Highlanders found the equalizer late, scoring off a corner kick during the last four minutes of the match to force a draw.

“It feels like a loss even though it was a tie,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “I’m really gutted right now that we leaked a goal so late in the game on a corner.”

Binghamton (2-6-2, 0-0-2 AE) wasted no time during the first four minutes of the match, with an attempt on goal executed by graduate student midfielder Jack Green. However, the ball skewed out left and missed the goal. The attempt was returned swiftly as NJIT (4-4-3, 1-0-1 AE) got off a shot that ended up forking right.

At the 25-minute mark of the period, the Bearcats made their mark on the scoreboard with a goal by Green off an assist from redshirt senior midfielder Anthony Lazaridis. With 15 minutes remaining, BU’s defense was tested as NJIT began to put some pressure on the Binghamton goal. The Highlanders looked to get on the board with a sequence of two shots in just one minute, but both attempts were saved by sophomore goalie Jack Root.

“[Root has] been spectacular,” Marco said. “He made another great save today and kept us in the game. I come into work at 8 a.m. and he’s in. I stay till 10 p.m. and he’s kicking a ball against the wall. He has really been a catalyst to show what hard work is in our program.”

The remaining minutes for the period saw a back-and-forth struggle for the ball. Despite Binghamton’s offensive push into NJIT territory, with shots from junior forward Mael Lopes and graduate student back Devin Heanue, the Bearcats were unable to find the back of the net. At the end of the first half, BU found itself with a 1-0 lead over the Highlanders.

With the second period in full swing, BU kept an early possession of the ball and used that advantage to make three attempts on the NJIT goal in three minutes. Despite the persistent efforts of the Bearcats’ attack, the Highlanders’ goalkeeper was able to keep the home team off the board in the second half.

“Hats off to NJIT,” Marco said. “They were stubborn.”

At the 55-minute mark, possession switched over to NJIT as they tried to get on the board. The Bearcats momentarily regained possession of the ball all the way into the Highlander’s side as they attempted a corner kick, but they couldn’t capitalize, losing possession of the ball. The ball alternated between the Bearcats and the Highlanders as neither side maintained control for very long. Later in the half, NJIT attempted two more shots at the goal to no avail as Root intercepted both attempts.

Then, with four minutes remaining in the match, NJIT fired the ball into the back of the net off a corner kick, which marked the Highlanders’ first goal of the match and tied the score at 1-1. For the remainder of the match, BU went on the attack, looking to find any opportunity for a last-second goal. However, with time running out, BU’s efforts were to no avail as the match ended in a 1-1 tie.

“It’s just disappointing,” Marco said. “I thought we should have had three points instead of one. We have to do a better job finishing out the game. We need to see the game out. We have a week off so we’ll regroup, some of the guys that didn’t play today will train hard, and then we’ll start to prepare for Albany as best we can and see what we can do next weekend.”

Binghamton will face off against Albany on Saturday, Oct. 7th. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, New York.