VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's soccer will count on its strong play at home to shine through when the Bearcats (7-7-2, 2-4 America East) host New Hampshire (6-7-2, 2-3-1 AE) in a crucial game at 6 p.m. Thursday night at the Sports Complex.

One year removed from sharing the America East regular season title, both Binghamton and UNH are in a battle to reach the playoffs in 2018. With two games remaining, UNH sits in sixth place (final playoff spot) and BU is one spot back in seventh. A loss to the Wildcats on Thursday would eliminate Binghamton from the postseason chase. A win or tie keeps BU's playoff chances alive heading into Sunday's regular season home finale against Albany. The Bearcats can still finish as high as fourth in the standings, which would result in a home quarterfinal game. But after three straight setbacks, BU is focused on securing enough points (3 pts. for a win, 1 for tie) to climb into the top-six.

On Sunday, BU surrendered two goals in a five-minute span early in the game and couldn't dig out of the hole in a 3-1 loss to league-leading Hartford. Binghamton was outshot 8-4 and gave up three or more goals for the third straight game after only allowing two goals in the team's previous seven games combined. 

Seniors Patty Loonie and Kayla Saager combined on the team's lone goal in the 79th minute. Saager sent a corner kick into the box where Loonie headed it in for her second goal of the season. It was Saager's team-high fifth assist. She ranks second in the league in goals (10) and points (25).

New Hampshire is coming off a 3-0 road loss at Albany on Sunday. They were outshot 20-7 and have now gone 1-3-1 in their last five games. The Wildcats have scored just two goals in conference play - the lowest scoring output in the nine-team league. The team's wins came against a strong Stony Brook squad (1-0) and last place UMBC (1-0 in OT). After Thursday's game, UNH finishes with a tough matchup against unbeaten Hartford at home on Sunday. 

Juniors Liz Lane and Ally Reynolds lead the team with three goals apiece. In goal, Mia Neas has a 1.41 goals against average. 

New Hampshire leads the all-time series 9-5-6 and is unbeaten in the last seven head-to-head matchups (4-0-3). The last Bearcats' win was a 1-0 road victory in the 2011 tournament quarterfinals. Last October in Durham, host UNH snapped a 1-1 tie in the 83rd minute and beat Binghamton 2-1. Earlier, Kayla Saager scored in the 73rd minute to tie the game. Eighteen of the 20 all-time games between the two schools have been decided by one goal or less. Binghamton is just 1-3-4 against UNH at home.