NEWARK, N.J. – Binghamton women's soccer (6-4-6, 5-0-3 America East) tallied once in each half and clinched the program's second straight outright regular season title with a 2-0 victory over NJIT (7-6-5, 3-4-1 AE) Thursday night at Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium.

By extending the team's unbeaten streak to nine (5-0-4), BU locked in first place and finished off its first-ever unbeaten conference season at the Division I level. The Bearcats will now carry the No. 1 seed into the America East tournament, receive a first-round bye and host a semifinal game on Nov. 2. The final two teams will play for the championship and the accompanying NCAA bid on Nov. 5 at the highest remaining seed.

Senior midfielder Molly McClelland netted the opening goal in the 19^th minute and graduate midfielder Olivia McKnight added an insurance goal in the 81^st minute.

The Bearcats held a 12-10 shots advantage and junior keeper Kaitlyn Williams made six saves to notch her sixth shutout of the season - third in the last four games.

"First off, our thoughts go out to the entire Maine community and we are sending our best wishes for the safety of all," head coach Neel Bhattacharjee said. "I cannot say how proud I am of this group. We came into preseason with high expectations and also a target on our back. We had to grind through a very difficult non-conference schedule but it was all to prepare us for the demanding America East play. Our student-athletes responded and are taking home another regular season title ... this time with an undefeated season. Each player did it knowing they were part of something bigger than any one person and represented Binghamton in a class manner. We are excited to bring the regular season title home again ... but we also know there is still more work to do."

On the first-half scoring play, graduate midfielder Victoria McKnight sent a long ball deep into the final third, where graduate defender Grace Vittoria tracked it down by the corner flag. Vittoria then sent a beautiful ball to the far post, where McClelland met it at full steam and one-timed it into the lower right corner for her first of the season.

Binghamton held a huge margin in ball possession but was still clinging to the one-goal lead before McKnight provided the final cushion. After some strong work from Vittoria and sophomore Lauren Clark on the right sideline, Vittoria sent a long ball into the box. Freshman Paige Luke went airborne with two NJIT defenders and the ball skimmed to open space, where McKnight cut it back and finished from eight yards. It was her fourth goal of the season. 

Binghamton will now await the final tournament seeds after play concludes Friday night and will prepare for the Nov. 2 semifinal at the Bearcats Sports Complex.

NOTES
It's the first time BU has won back-to-back regular season titles … it's also the first time any America East team has won back-to-back outright titles since Hartford did it in 2014 and 2015 … Binghamton has now won three of the last six regular season titles (non-COVID seasons).