WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Host Hartford (12-1-2, 5-0-1 America East) scored twice in a five-minute span early in the game and went on to beat Binghamton women's soccer (7-7-2, 2-4 AE) 3-1 Sunday afternoon at Al-Marzook Field. The first-place Hawks extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games (10-0-2) and the loss kept the Bearcats one spot out of playoff position with two regular season games remaining.

Hartford opened the scoring in the ninth minute and then struck again 5:02 later to quickly build a 2-0 cushion. The Hawks added a goal in the 69th minute before senior midfielder Patty Loonie got BU on the board in the 79th minute. Loonie headed in a corner kick from classmate Kayla Saager to close out the scoring. It was Loonie's second goal of the season. Saager notched her team-high fifth assist of the season and raised her points total to 25. 

Binghamton was outshot 8-4 and surrendered three goals for the third straight game after doing it only once in the previous 12 games. 

"Today was a difficult loss to absorb," head coach Neel Bhattacharjee said. "We had a game plan we wanted to execute but that became difficult after falling behind 2-0 early. But I loved the mentality of the group and their continued fight. We had three high quality chances later in the first half and then it was a good battle in the second half. The spirits didn't waiver. We need that type of mentality as we prep for a critical upcoming weekend. We get to control our destiny and are set up to do that at home. If we are fortunate to get a couple of results and make the postseason, we know we can be a dangerous team to play against. But all attention now needs to be focused on a talented UNH team looking for critical points as well."

The Bearcats host New Hampshire at 6 p.m. Thursday and then complete the regular season by hosting Albany on Sunday. Binghamton (6 pts.) enters the final week in seventh place, one point behind UNH (3-2-1, 7 pts.) and four behind both Albany (3-2-1, 10 pts.) and UMass Lowell (3-2-1, 10 pts.). The Bearcats can finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the standings but need a top-six spot to advance to the America East tournament. Binghamton is 6-1 at home this season.