BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. - Visiting Bighamton women's soccer (2-1) struck for two goals in a 59-second span early in the second half and used a 24-2 shots cushion to ease past St. Francis (0-3) 2-0 Friday afternoon at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5. 

After a scoreless first half, BU finally capitalized on its control of play less than six minutes into the second half. Freshman midfielder Olivia McKnight was taken down in the box on a scoring opportunity and junior forward Dora Hayes converted the ensuing penalty kick to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute. Binghamton pressed right off the next restart and doubled its lead when McKnight cashed in on a cross from sophomore forward Stefania Piantadosi just 59 seconds later. The feed bounced once before McKnight sent a volley into the top left corner for her second goal of the young season.

In back, sophomore keeper Haylee Poltorak was only called on to make one save as the back line swept away any potential Terriers attack. Poltorak notched her second shutout of the season.

"Overall we are pleased with today's performance," head coach Neel Bhattacharjee said. "We had some specific things we wanted to do in our game plan and then had to alter that as the game played out and our players made those tactical adjustments work. We had a good week of training after a difficult loss (at Georgia) and I'm very pleased to see the resiliency of our student-athletes, especially playing a new program in a unique environment. We could have been a bit more ruthless in finishing chances in the first half but we made amends in the second half. We will enjoy this well-deserved victory for a few hours and then get a quick recovery for a dangerous attack-minded Manhattan team on Sunday." 

Binghamton hosts MAAC member Manhattan (0-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.