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Coming off a 3-1 win over St. Bonaventure, Women's Soccer hits the road this afternoon for an in-state match against Binghamton, a team they beat 3-0 in UB Stadium last year.
For an early-season matchup, it's nice that there's already a common opponent, as the Bearcats played St. Bonaventure to a 1-1 tie in their season opener last weekend. In that game, Binghamton came from behind in the second half and controlled play in overtime, though they were unable to break through.
More recently, Binghamton fell 1-0 to Lafayette after surrendering an early goal. The Bearcats, led by goalie Katie Hatziyianis, boast a particularly stingy defense through their first three games, surrendering only two goals on just ten shots on frame. On the other hand, they've only scored two goals themselves and aren't managing much more in the way of chances. Their lone win is a 1-0 victory over Niagara a week ago today.
It's a good bet that UB is the best team Binghamton has seen so far -- Lafayette was weaker on both offense and defense last year, at least -- and the Bulls are coming off their strongest offensive showing yet last Thursday.
Binghamton returns almost no scoring from last year's offense, having graduated their top three scorers from a 2015 group that managed only ten goals season-long, but have featured a balanced attack so far, as seven players have taken three or more shots.
A free stream, provided by the America East Conference, is available through Binghamton's website.
The Bottom Line
Coach Burke surprised me with some strong postgame words Thursday night. I thought the team wasn't as sharp as against West Virginia, but put forward a strong game. But if he believes the team can be significantly better and they respond this afternoon, this could be a fun one for Bulls fans.
Binghamton's defense looks well-improved over last year, but in 2015 UB still outshot the Bearcats by more than a 3-1 margin and ceded nothing in the way of scoring opportunities. Expect this to go much like Thursday night.