ALBANY, N.Y. - Junior forward Stefania Piantadosi converted a fantastic thru ball from sophomore midfielder Maya Anand for the game-winner with just 12 seconds left to lift visiting Binghamton women's soccer (1-0, 1-0 America East) to a 2-1 win over Albany (1-3, 0-1 AE) in the team's season opener Sunday afternoon at Casey Stadium.

The Bearcats turned away an Albany long ball in the defensive third and the ball was cleared to midfield, where Anand spun and delivered a perfect 30-yard left-footed pass behind the Great Danes defense. Piantadosi collected it with a dribble and then with a defender draped on her, drilled a 15-yard shot past the rushing keeper into the upper right corner in the game's final seconds. 

"Today's win was an outstanding team effort," head coach Neel Bhattacharjee said. "We went on the road knowing this was our first game of the season and we had a few players unavailable. Despite the adversity, our players rose to the the moment. We scored two nice goals and fought hard to the last second against one of the top teams in the conference."

The win over an Albany team that has won three of the last five conference titles was a huge statement for a Bearcats team that was relegated to a surprising sixth in the coaches' preseason poll. 

"There's not a more proud coach today than me ... I love our effort and resiliency," Bhattacharjee added. "We will enjoy this  well-earned victory, get our recovery and focus our attention on hosting another very talented team in Stony Brook."

Binghamton outshot Albany 13-9 and got on the board first in the 27th minute. After Anand was taken down from behind outside the box, BU was awarded a free kick. With both McKnight sisters on the ball, it was freshman midfielder Victoria McKnight who struck a cross toward goal that met the head of senior back Erin Theiller. A charging Theiller sent her header into the near side corner for a 1-0 lead. It was the fourth career goal for Theiller, better known for her staunch defensive work. 

The Bearcats carried the lead into halftime and through the first 23 minutes of the second half before Albany capitalized on stronger pressure to net an equalizer. A thru ball in front of a backpedaling BU back line led to a finish from eight yards out with 21:14 to play. But with the teams seemingly headed for overtime for the second straight year, BU played to the whistle and seized the win to remain unbeaten at Casey Stadium in the last three tries (2-0-1). 

Junior keeper Haylee Poltorak was credited with two saves as the BU back line negated most Albany attacks. 

Sixteen months after playing its last game and amid challenging circumstances created by the pandemic, Bhattacharjee and the team had other reasons to celebrate on Sunday.

"Just being able to be here is a big win in itself," he said. "We appreciate everything the America East, Binghamton University and our athletics administration and sports medicine have done to make this moment even possible." 

Binghamton welcomes defending champion Stony Brook to the Bearcats Sports Complex at 1 p.m. next Sunday.