The Binghamton women’s soccer team was defeated 2-1 by Syracuse after traveling to Syracuse, New York on Sunday evening. The two teams traded goals in the first half, while the second half was mostly silent on offense until a shot that deflected off sophomore defender Allison Falvo gave Syracuse a 2-1 advantage in the 62nd minute. The Bearcats were not able to answer back and ultimately went on to suffer their third loss of the year.

“[We were] pleased with how we played, but disappointed, and a bit frustrated, in terms of ultimately not being able to get a positive result,” said Binghamton head coach Neel Bhattacharjee.

When the game started, Binghamton (0-3-1), got the first shot off, which went wide left. After Syracuse (2-2-0) shot and missed the goal as well, the home team came back with a goal, just seven minutes into the first half. In the 16th minute, the Bearcats took advantage of a forced turnover. A pass from graduate student midfielder Olivia McKnight set up a goal by freshman forward Paige Luke, marking her first collegiate goal.

After the goal, the game would remain 1-1 through the rest of the first half. However, Syracuse had multiple shot opportunities that either deflected off the crossbar or ended in saves from junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Williams.

“I thought we played well in the first half of the first half,” Bhattacharjee said. “Then [in the] second half of the first half, Syracuse was able to get a little bit more control of the ball, especially in the midfield.”

The moment where Williams was tested came 28 minutes into the first half when Syracuse took a sequence of multiple shots on goal. After a shot from Syracuse ended in a jumping save from Williams, Syracuse got the rebound and hit the crossbar. Then, the Orange took another shot that also ended in a jumping save from Williams.

“In the first half when we needed [Williams] to come up big, she did,” Bhattacharjee said.

The second half started with a few missed shots from Binghamton. Even though Binghamton and Syracuse had an equal number of shots in the second half, it was the Orange that was able to pull away with a goal in the 62nd minute of the half. The tie-breaking score deflected off Falvo and went straight into the net, giving Syracuse a 2-1 lead. The Bearcats were unable to respond ultimately dropping the match to the Orange.

“The second goal, [was] just a really weird goal,” Bhattacharjee said. “[It was] at a point in time where we were playing pretty well.”

Fouls from Binghamton dominated the second half. In the half, BU had 15 fouls compared to Syracuse’s two, which added up to 22 fouls for the Bearcats and four for the Orange throughout the entire game. The Bearcats also had five yellow cards for the entire game, compared to just one from the Orange.

“There were some interesting calls,” Bhattacharjee said. “I don’t know if I have ever been part of a game where the calls were that lopsided. It’s one thing if our team was playing overly aggressive and coming in for late fouls and all that then it’s warranted. I didn’t necessarily see things that way.”

Despite the loss, the Bearcats saw multiple highlights. Luke’s goal was the first of her college career, as well as the first of the season for BU, and Williams managed six saves against the Syracuse offense. Meanwhile, the Bearcat defense gave up only three shots on goal in the second half.

Binghamton will look for its first win of the season against at home on Aug. 31 to take on Le Moyne. Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.