VESTAL, N.Y. - Three months after being crowned America East regular season champions, Binghamton women's soccer has laid the foundation for future success with a strong recruiting class. On Wednesday, head coach Neel Bhattacharjee announced the addition of five elite high school athletes who will join the Bearcats program next fall.

The class features one goalkeeper, two defenders, one midfielder and one forward. 

"Our program is very excited to be adding these five student-athletes to our Bearcats family," Bhattacharjee said. "We have spent much time watching this class and know they are excellent people, students, and athletes and they will have high impact within our team.  They possess the character we look for within our program culture, have a hunger to compete, are driven academically, and will be tremendous ambassadors for Binghamton athletics as we continuously strive to play at a high level.  Each of the these student-athletes has a very bright future and they all have the ability make an impact immediately this fall."

The 2017 Bearcats went 11-4-4 - the program's most wins in 13 seasons - and captured a share of the conference regular season title. 

Below is a capsule look at each recruit.


Gabby Piontkowski 
5-foot-7 Defender
Baldwinsville, N.Y. (Charles Baker HS)

- four-year varsity starter at Charles Baker 
- All-American defender as senior 
- two-time all-state selection (first team as senior)
- Central New York big schools Player of Year
- led CWB to sectionals all four years highlighted by state title (2017) and runnerup (2015) showing
- program was 67-9-3 during her career (win percentage of 87%)
- Section III, Class AA Player of Year as senior
- Syracuse "Believe to Achieve" Female Athlete of Year as senior
- two-time All-Central New York selection
- CNY Athlete of the Week award winner
- four-time all-league choice
- played club for Syracuse Developmental Academy
- three-time State Cup champions and advanced to nationals in 2016
- member of National Honor Society
- High Honor Roll recipient

Nicole Scudero
5-foot-8 Midfielder
Hauppauge, N.Y. (Hauppauge HS)

- four-year varsity starter at Hauppauge
- two-time all-state midfielder/back
- two-time All-Long Island selection
- four-time all-county choice
- three-time selection to Newsday Top 50 Players to Watch
- League V Player of Year as senior
- League IV Defensive Player of Year as freshman
- led Hauppauge to two league championships and one county runnerup finish
- tallied 36 career goals and 16 assists
- scored 16 goals in 2015 season
- member of ENY ODP State team in 2015 that won Region 1 title and played in Costa Rica tournament
- played club for HBC Impact 00 and won three state titles and three Region 1 titles
- HBC Impact 00 squad was ranked No. 2 in nation and No. 1 in New York State in 2017
- also standout athlete in lacrosse (all-division for county runnerup team) and track
- competed in prestigious Millrose Games as part of bronze medal 4 x 400 relay
- Academic All-County recipient in 2017

Haylee Poltorak
5-foot-6 Goalkeeper
Massapequa, N.Y. (Massapequa HS)

- first team all-state goalkeeper for Massapequa
- led program to three consecutive state final appearances
- posted 0.41 goals against average with 101 saves as senior
- had scoreless string of 595 minutes
- All-Long Island selection
- also named to all-county and all-conference teams
- recipient of Howard Gould Award for Most Outstanding Goalkeeper
- led Massapequa to state championship as sophomore
- named to Newsday Top 10 Players to Watch
- named Top Drawer Soccer Top 20 Players to Watch
- played with ECNL PDP in spring 2017
- member of ID2 Girls 99' National Pool
- scholar-athlete
- member of National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and Principal's List

Stefania Piantadosi
5-foot-5 Forward
Egg Harbor Township, N.J. (Egg Harbor Twp HS)

- four-year standout at Egg Harbor
- all-state forward as senior
- three-time all-league selection, including two first-team honors
- twice named All-South Jersey
- school's career record holder with 53 goals
- led Cape Atlantic League in scoring as junior (20 goals) and senior (22 goals)
- two-time team Offensive MVP
- two-year member of National Honor Society
- Two year president of the Egg Harbor Twp Charter of Family Career Community Leaders of America

Kayla MacKenzie
5-foot-4 Defender
Highland Mills, N.Y. (Monroe Woodbury HS)

- all-state defender for powerful Monroe Woodbury program
- led team to 17-3-1 record and state semifinal berth as senior
- Class AA all-star selection
- All-Metro and all-section choice in 2017
- team MVP
- helped lead Monroe Woodbury to three sectional titles (2015-17) and two state semifinal appearances (2015, 2017)
- also plays club for Quickstrike F.C.
- club team won State Cup championships in 2014 and 2015 and reached national semifinals in 2015 and 2017
- scholar athlete and member of High Honor Roll