VESTAL, N.Y. - After staging a ferocious second-half comeback and forcing a championship-deciding shootout, Binghamton women's soccer (9-5-5) came up short, 3-2 in penalties as visiting New Hampshire (9-5-3) captured the America East title Sunday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex. The Wildcats receive the conference's automatic NCAA berth. It was the first conference title match in 19 years to be decided by a shootout. 

Binghamton rallied from 4-1 down and owned a commanding 19-2 shots advantage over the game's final 65 minutes before the teams settled on the official 4-4 draw. In the shootout, senior keeper Nicole Scott stopped two UNH penalties but BU misfired on three of its own shots, giving the visiting Wildcats the crown by the slimmest of margins.

"Our kids are pretty gutted right now," head coach Neel Bhattacharjee said. "I can't say enough about our effort and attitude from the second half on. We showed tremendous heart, laid it all out and it was a championship-caliber performance. But only one team can advance. Congrats to New Hampshire ... we wish them well in the NCAA tournament. They are a class program. It was a tremendous season ... to win just the third regular season title in the history of our program... We're hurting right now but hopefully in time we'll be able to put this all in perspective and understand all the special things we did. We have great kids and they do it for one another. I'm most proud of the culture we've built and how these girls have represented Binghamton University, this athletics department and our program."

New Hampshire scored three goals in a 12-minute span midway through the first half to snap a 1-1 tie and take control of the game. But the Bearcats responded with an inspiring second half and banged in three goals of their own to tie game at 4-4. Junior back Lexi Vegoda began the comeback by bending in a corner kick 5:10 into the second half. Then less than three minutes later, sophomore forward Hannah Knych was taken down in the box, giving BU a penalty shot. Vegoda stepped up and converted, cutting BU's deficit to one, 4-3. Then with time winding down, senior midfielder Victoria McKnight ripped a shot from the right side of the box that the UNH keeper blocked but couldn't corral. Freshman forward Samiya Reid was there to tap in the rebound for the tying goal in the 84th minute. It was Reid's first collegiate goal.           

The Bearcats kept applying pressure into the overtime periods and had several chances to hit the winner before the final whistle. With 3:35 left in the second overtime, Vegoda sent in a dangerous corner and junior back Emma Colling met it with a hard volley from four yards. But it banked off the keeper's body right to senior midfielder Olivia McKnight, whose one-timer was swiped off the goal line by a UNH defender.   

Earlier in the game, UNH opened the scoring in the ninth minute before senior striker Maya Anand countered with her 12th goal of the season just over two minutes later. Anand, the America East Striker of the Year, took a feed from junior midfielder Molly McClelland on the right side and went to work. She dribbled toward the box, sidestepped two Wildcat defenders with a spin move and then ripped a 25-yard left-footed bullet into the right corner to even the game at 1-1. It was her second postseason goal in as many games. 

Seven of the game's eight goals were scored by the team that had a strong wind at their back. Nearly 20-mph wind gusts gave the northern-end attacking team an advantage, although BU continued the aggression throughout the second overtime period playing against the wind. 

Vegoda and McClelland scored BU's shootout goals. 

Anand, senior midfielder Olivia McKnight and senior keeper Nicole Scott were all named to the All-Championship Team. McKnight scored twice in BU's semifinal triumph over Albany and Scott confined her significant contributions to the two shootouts. She made three saves to lift BU into the championship game and then added two more stops against UNH.    

Binghamton finished the season with an 8-1-4 clip. The team's 44 goals scored were the most in 21 years (2.3/game).