VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's soccer (10-5-2) begins postseason play on Sunday when the fifth-seeded Bearcats face fourth-seeded New Hampshire (9-7) in a quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium in Durham. The winner travels to Long Island to face top-seeded Stony Brook on Thursday night. 

Binghamton earned its spot with back-to-back wins to end the regular season. The Bearcats defeated UMass Lowell (1-0) and UMBC (2-0) in their last two games to make a push for a home playoff game. But UNH countered with a 5-1 trouncing of Lowell on Thursday to secure the No. 4 spot and host role. 

The Bearcats have seen the extremes during the regular season. An 8-2-1 clip to open the season was followed by a four-game winless stretch (0-3-1) and now two straight wins. One of those wins during the initial streak was a 2-0 victory over UNH in Durham on Sept. 29. In that game, the teams were scoreless for the first 68 minutes before BU tallied twice in the final 22 minutes to earn the win. The victory snapped an eight-game winless streak against UNH.

Binghamton will be making its second postseason trip in the last three years. The team missed the playoffs last season after earning the No. 2 seed back in 2017. That team was regular season co-champion and received a bye into the semifinals, where its season came to a heartbreaking early end with a 1-0 home loss to sixth-seeded Vermont. 

Junior all-conference selections Dora Hayes (4 goals, 3 assists) and Erin Theiller continue to pace the Bearcats. Freshman midfielder Olivia McKnight, who leads the team with 14 points on five goals and four assists, was named to the All-Rookie Team and will be a contender for Rookie of the Year when that award is announced on Monday. Junior forward Essie Bonney has a share of the team lead with five goals, while junior forward Sarah Dibble has three goals and eight points. 

In goal, junior Mackenzie Hanna has started the last four games and has a pair of shutouts. She has a 1.01 goals against average. 

New Hampshire is coming off the lopsided win over UMass Lowell on Thursday. The Wildcats scored three goals in the game's first 21 minutes and cruised to their highest scoring output of the season. In addition to the 2-0 loss to the Bearcats, New Hampshire's other two conference defeats were duplicate 2-0 losses to co-champions Stony Brook and Albany.

UNH has two all-conference players in forward Ally Reynolds (8 goals, 19 pts.) and defender Megan Rumbold (5 pts.). Freshman midfielder Whitney Wiley (All-Rookie) has five goals and three assists. In goal, Cat Sheppard has a 0.89 goals against average with five shutouts. 

NOTES
The teams have met four times in the postseason with Binghamton owning a 2-0-2 record (wins in 2008, 2011, ties in 2006 and 2014) ... Overall, UNH leads the head-to-head series 10-6-6 ... The last time the teams squared off in the America East playoffs was in 2014, when they played to a 1-1 draw before the host Wildcats advanced to the semifinals on penalty kicks ... New Hampshire is 6-5-2 against Binghamton at home ... The Bearcats' last postseason victory of any kind came against UNH ... a 1-0 win in the 2011 quarterfinals in the exact same scenario as this with the No. 5 Bearcats beating No. 4 UNH in Durham ... Binghamton has gone 0-3-1 in playoff games since that win ... Binghamton is 1-1 as the tournament's No. 5 seed (2011).  

Binghamton in the America East Tournament

2004 (No. 1 Seed, 2-0)
Nov. 5 • Semifinals @ Binghamton
No. 1 Binghamton 3, No. 5 Northeastern 0

Nov. 7 • Finals @ Binghamton
No. 1 Binghamton 2, No. 2 Maine 0

2005 (No. 3 Seed, 1-0-1)
Oct. 28 • Quarterfinals @ Binghamton
No. 3 Binghamton 2, No. 6 UMBC 1 (OT)

Oct. 30 • Semifinals @ Maine
No. 2 Maine 0, No. 3 Binghamton 0 (2OT)
Maine advances in PKs 3-1

2006 (No. 2 Seed, 0-0-1)
Oct. 27 • Quarterfinals @ Binghamton
No. 5 UNH 0 No. 2 Binghamton 0 (2OT) 
UNH advances in PKs 6-5

2007 (No. 6 Seed, 0-1-1)
Nov. 1 • Quarterfinals @ Hartford
No. 6 Binghamton 1, No. 3 Hartford 1 (2OT) 
Binghamton advances in PKs 6-5 

Nov. 9 • Semifinals @ Boston
No. 1 Boston 2, No. 6 Binghamton 0

2008 (No. 6 Seed, 1-1)
Oct. 30 • Quarterfinals @ New Hamp.
No. 6 Binghamton 1, No. 3 UNH 0

Nov. 2 • Semifinals @ Stony Brook
No. 2 Stony Brook 2, No. 6 Binghamton 0

2009 (No. 2 Seed, 0-1-1)
Nov. 1 • Semifinals @ Binghamton
No. 2 Binghamton 0, No. 3 Maine 0 (2OT)
Binghamton advances in PKs 4-2 

Nov. 7 • Finals @ Boston
No. 1 Boston 4, No. 2 Binghamton 0

2011 (No. 5 Seed, 1-1)
Oct. 27 • Quarterfinals @ New Hamp.
No. 5 Binghamton 1, No. 4 UNH 0 

Oct. 30 • Semifinals @ Boston
No. 1 Boston 2, No. 5 Binghamton 1

2013 (No. 6 Seed, 0-1)
Oct. 31 • Quarterfinals @ Maine
No. 3 Maine 2, No. 6 Binghamton 0 

2014 (No. 6 Seed, 0-0-1)
Oct. 30 • Quarterfinals @ New Hamp.
No. 3 UNH 1, No. 6 Binghamton 1 (2OT)
UNH advances in PKs 4-2 

2017 (No. 2 Seed, 0-1)
Oct 29 • Semifinals @ Binghamton
No. 6 Vermont 1, No. 2 Binghamton 0