VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's soccer begins its postseason with a quarterfinal game at Albany on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Bearcats (8-7-3) will meet the fourth-seeded Great Danes (5-7-4) at 3 p.m. at Bob Ford Field. The matchup will come less than 72 hours after the teams met in the regular season finale in Binghamton Thursday night - a game Albany won 1-0 to gain its playoff berth. Oddly enough, this will be the first postseason meeting between the two SUNY rivals who have played alongside each other in the America East for 20 years. 

The Bearcats are making their fourth postseason appearance in the last five years. Last spring, BU advanced to the championship game, falling 1-0 to Stony Brook. Binghamton is 6-8-5 all-time in 12 years of America East tournament play. The Bearcats won the 2004 championship and were runnersup in 2009 and 2020 (spring 2021). They have a 3-2-3 record in quarterfinal play. 

In the conference awards announced on Friday, Binghamton garnered five honors - four all-conference and one all-rookie selection. Named Second Team All-Conference were midfielders Olivia McKnight and Victoria McKnight, senior defender Nicole Scudero and junior forward Maya Anand. The four all-conference selections was second-most among member schools, behind only regular-season champion Vermont (5). 

Anand ranks second in the conference in game-winning goals (4), fourth in total goals (6) and fifth in points (15). Olivia McKnight has four goals and 10 points and Victoria McKnight holds a share of the conference lead with four assists. Scudero anchors a BU defense that ranks second in the conference in goals allowed (14). Senior keeper Haylee Poltorak has seven shutouts and ranks second in both goals against average (0.73) and save percentage (.859). 

Albany earned the No. 4 seed and a berth with their win over the Bearcats - jumping over fellow SUNY rival and defending champion Stony Brook, who was left out of the six-team bracket. The Great Danes have alternated wins and losses in their last five games. The team's marquee win was a 1-0 triumph at UMass Lowell three weeks ago. Senior forward Jasmine Colbert leads UA with eight goals and 17 points and was a first team all-conference selection. She also sat out Thursday's contest, meaning the Danes will bring her more firepower to the second matchup. 

Head-to-head, Binghamton leads 11-7-3 since both programs elevated to Division I in 2001. Albany is 4-2-1 in the last six meetings however. Binghamton posted a 2-1 win at Albany last spring. The last seven head-to-head games have been decided by a goal or less.