VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's soccer will have to be sharp to strengthen the team's postseason standing when the Bearcats (7-6-2, 2-3 America East) travel to face first-place Hartford (11-1-2, 4-0-1 AE) on the Hawks' Senior Day on Sunday. The teams will kick-off at 1 p.m. at Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. 

Binghamton is looking to regain the form that produced a recent 5-1-1 stretch that included winning two of the team's first three conference games. But last week, BU suffered a pair of losses, 4-0 at Stony Brook and a disappointing  3-1 home setback to UMass Lowell and the two defeats now have the defending regular season co-champion Bearcats in a delicate position with just three regular season games remaining. Binghamton is pinned in seventh place and only the top six teams will advance to the America East tournament. The Bearcats finish up the regular season with home games against New Hampshire (Oct. 18) and Albany (Oct. 21). 

Senior forward Kayla Saager leads the team and ranks 17th in the nation with 10 goals. She also ranks 19th in total points (24). Sophomore forward Genna Michitti has two goals and five points and junior linemate Ryan Reilly has three assists and five points. 

Freshman keeper Haylee Poltorak has a 1.02 goals against average and four solo shutouts. 

Hartford is riding an 11-game unbeaten streak (9-0-2) and is coming off a 2-1 home win over Albany on Thursday. Despite being outshot 11-4, Hartford scored on its only two shots on goal and hung on for the win. Sophomore forward Gabriela Gamory had a goal (her team-high seventh) and an assist. Junior Kaila Lozada, a three-time America East Player of the Week this season, leads the Hawks in scoring with a career-high 19 points. She has six goals and ranks 15th in the country with seven assists. 

The Hawks have benefited from a balanced attack featuring 11 different goal scorers — including four who rank in the league's top-10. Hartford leads the America East in goals (2.5 per game). Defensively, Hartford owns a 0.86 goals-against average to lead the America East. Sophomore keeper Maia Perez leads the conference with five shutouts.

The Hawks lead the all-time series between the two teams, 11-5-1. Hartford has been especially strong at home in the series, holding a 7-1-1 mark at Al-Marzook Field. In the last meeting last October, however, BU snapped a seven-game head-to-head losing streak with a riveting 3-2 overtime win in the regular-season finale. In that game, Erin Theiller scored the winner 3:56 into the extra period to set off a wild celebration as the Bearcats learned they had claimed a share of the regular season crown. Earlier in the game, Michitti and Dora Hayes had scored goals to stake BU to a 2-0 lead.