VESTAL, N.Y. – Binghamton women's soccer enters the 2023 season loaded with talent and America East coaches are well aware, having chosen the Bearcats first in the preseason poll. Head coach Neel Bhattacharjee's program won the regular season outright last fall and came within a PK of reaching the NCAA tournament. Now with 10 starters and 23 letterwinners back, Bhattacharjee's team has been slotted No. 1 for the first time in the program's 22-year Division I tenure.  

"Our team is as hungry as ever," Bhattacharjee said. "We briefly talked about the preseason poll but everyone knows it doesn't really matter. We need to control what we can and make gains on a daily basis. Everything will come down to our performances on the field."

That performance bar was set high by the 2022 group, which finished the season on an 8-1-4 clip (9-5-5 overall) to win the America East regular season title and finish runnerup in the postseason tournament. The Bearcats produced five all-conference selections, two all-region honors, two conference All-Rookie selections and three America East major award winners. Its offense was particularly potent, notching 44 goals (2.3/game) – most in 21 years.

The lone starter gone from that team, however, happens to have been its most dangerous attacker as Maya Anand (12 goals) graduated after earning America East Offensive Player of the Year accolades. But 73 percent of the goal scoring returns and together with a strong midfield and fortified defense, the 2023 edition should be capable of pushing for a postseason crown.

GOALKEEPING
Junior Kaitlyn Williams returns to her starting role after posting a 1.53 goals against average and a share of five shutouts last fall. She is a steady, assertive presence and is capable of making game-changing saves. Freshman Rebecca Kessler begins her collegiate career after twice earning All-New Jersey state honors at Scotch Plains High.


DEFENSE
The back line welcomes back graduate student, captain and two-year starter Grace Vittoria, who missed the 2022 campaign with an injury but is back in her influential role. Vittoria can play centrally but most likely will set up on the right side. With a healthy Vittoria anchoring the 2021 defense, that unit ranked No. 2 in the America East.

"Grace looks as fit and strong as ever," Bhattacharjee said.

After a stellar freshman season that led to conference All-Rookie accolades, sophomore Brooke Herber returns to the middle of the back line. She logged a team-high 1727 minutes last fall (91 min/game). Joining her in the middle will be freshman Sophia Garofalo, who has impressed the coaching staff with her 1-on-1 defending and aerial abilities on set pieces. Garofalo was a two-time all-conference center back at Matawan High School (N.J.) and is a sturdy defender with good distribution range.

Senior Lexi Vegoda returns to the left side, where she is a tough-as-nails defender with powerful service on set pieces. Vegoda was one of the key contributors last season, averaging a team-high 92 minutes a game and combining stingy 1-on-1 defense with four goals and 11 points on the attack. She is a three-year starter and first team all-conference defender from 2022. In the championship game tie against UNH, Vegoda keyed a three-goal second-half comeback with two tallies in a 2:56 span.

Sophomore Allison Falvo, who played 70 minutes a game and earned America East All-Rookie honors last fall, is back as an option on the left, as is versatile senior captain Davia Rossi, who has also played up front during her collegiate career.

Junior Erin Hogan (58 min./game, 12 starts in 2022) heads a group of capable defenders off the bench. The unit includes juniors Nicole Rago and Mackenzie Ryder and sophomore Madison O'Sullivan. Third-year back Hailey Roberts will miss the season with injury.

MIDFIELD
Back to anchor the midfield in their fifth collegiate seasons is the all-conference tandem of twins Olivia McKnight and Victoria McKnight. The local recruits and elite leaders have been the face of BU's uprising during the Bhattacharjee era. Olivia is the reigning America East Midfielder of the Year who has 20 career goals and 53 points in 3+ full seasons. Last fall she tallied eight goals with four assists and is a scoring threat across the field. Victoria returned from multiple injuries to produce an all-conference season in 2022 – one that included five goals and four assists.

"Livi and Tori, along with Grace, provide exceptional leadership as fifth-year players," Bhattacharjee said. "We are very fortunate to have them all back as they offer a strong understanding of our standards and expectations."

But equally important is the unheralded defensive and linking work provided by sophomore Alex Marsteller, who will again take up a starting spot in the holding role. A relentless worker who covers the full field at a high rate, Marsteller provided 82 minutes a game last fall.

Senior Emma Colling, another local recruit with exceptional technical ability, is a viable option in the holding position. She is working her way back from injury but showed her mettle with 81 minutes in the 2022 America East championship game.

Midfield options also include senior Molly McClelland, juniors Maria Poulos and Isabella Martillo and freshman Bella Brown. Brown begins her collegiate career after leading her high school team to back-to-back state titles and a 41-match unbeaten streak in league play.

FORWARD
Replacing Anand's production and opposing defensive attention will fall to several Bearcats. Junior speedster Peyton Gilmore is a returning all-conference forward who accumulated seven goals and 18 points last fall. She was one of just two underclassmen across the league to be a first team America East all-star. Junior attackers Hannah Knych and Hannah Mimas are expected to log significant minutes on the outside. Knych returned from injury to play in 13 games last fall and contributed three goals and seven points. Mimas has battled through injuries in each her first two seasons but is the most fit of any Bearcat. Both Hannahs possess a high work rate and give Bhattacharjee good options up front.

Freshman Paige Luke has impressed the staff with her play in preseason and is likely to line up in a starting role at central forward. Luke has a knack of finishing, is good at hold-up play and provides a strong aerial threat. She is a former high school teammate of BU starting keeper Kaitlyn Williams and capped her brilliant scholastic career with a 14-goal campaign last fall.

Senior Molly McClelland, who logged 101 minutes in the America East title game, can play on the outside as well as in the midfield. Sophomores Samiya Reid and Lauren Clark and speedy freshman Megan Baker give BU lots of options up front. Reid scored her first collegiate goal in the conference championship game and will see time centrally. Baker is expected to compete for minutes after netting 93 career goals up the road at Jamesville-DeWitt High in Syracuse.

SCHEDULE
The Bearcats will play a 16-game slate, split evenly between non-conference and conference matches. Most prominent among the early games are three tilts against Power 5 foes: Seton Hall on Aug. 4,  Syracuse on Sept. 7 and Big Ten member Maryland, who comes to the Bearcats Sports Complex on Sept. 10.

"It's a strong set of opponents who will test us and show high levels of speed of play, physicality and technical level," Bhattacharjee said of his non-conference slate. "We will need to match and exceed that for us to have a strong standard of play and to prepare us for America East competition in mid-September."

After the team's annual tilt against nearby rival Cornell (Sept. 13), BU begins its eight-game America East slate. Last season, the Bearcats went 6-1-1 en route to the program's first-ever solo regular season title, top seed and tournament host role. The conference schedule opens in Durham with a rematch of the 2022 championship game. A Homecoming weekend match against Vermont highlights the October slate, which wraps up with a Senior Day game against Maine on Oct. 22. The top six teams (out of nine) advance to the America East tournament, which begins with quarterfinal games on Oct. 29. 

OUTLOOK
Matching or near-matching the team's scoring output from 2022, while reinforcing the back line is a formula Bhattacharjee hopes will put the team in position for another postseason run this fall.

"We want to try to match that 44-goal output from last year," he said. "And we want to present an organized front on defense to shut down opposing attacks … something we can do with our strong leadership and veteran group back there. We know the potential exists but we still have to put a lot of different pieces in place and work to gel and improve every day. We can't wait to compete for another regular season title and postseason championship and provide fans with another exciting season of Bearcat women's soccer."