ALBANY, N.Y. – On a warm Halloween night, visiting Binghamton women's soccer (7-5-4, 4-2-2 America East) pumped in four goals, including two in a 24-second span and rolled over SUNY rival UAlbany (3-12-1, 2-5-1 AE) 4-0 Thursday night at Bob Ford Field.
The win extended the team's unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2) and also locked up the No. 3 seed for the upcoming America East Championship. The Bearcats will host No. 6 Vermont in an America East quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Bearcats Sports Complex. Binghamton will be making its sixth consecutive postseason appearance.
Binghamton stretched a 1-0 halftime lead with three second-half goals, giving the team a three-goal output in each of their last three regular season games. During the current unbeaten streak, the Bearcats are averaging 2.8 goals.
"We are pleased to end conference play with a strong scoreline," head coach
Neel Bhattacharjee said. "We didn't have necessarily our best first half performance but we played more aggressively in the second half and utilized depth to come away with a good victory. After getting recovery, we will use the momentum and confidence to help prep for a strong Vermont side on Sunday. We love playing in November and will be geared up for an intense postseason matchup."
Senior striker
Mackenzie Ryder opened the scoring in the 23
rd minute. Senior center midfielder
Isabella Martillo fed sophomore back
Megan Baker with a ball out wide on the right and Baker sent a cross into the middle, where it skipped past a Great Danes' defender to Ryder. She controlled it and quickly rifled a 14-yard shot to the lower left corner for her sixth goal of the season. The assists were the first on the season for Martillo and second for Baker.
In the second half, Baker converted from the penalty spot in the 64
th minute to make it 2-0. The call came after she took a pass from junior
Lauren Clark and sped into the box on the right before being tripped from behind by an Albany defender. She was rewarded with the opportunity and buried it for her second goal in as many games.
Then with time winding down, the Bearcats struck twice in a 24-second span. In the 88
th minute, Martillo scored her first collegiate goal on a beautiful 16-yard left-footer that banked off the crossbar and over the line. Freshman forward
Alexus Worrell earned her first collegiate assist. Off the ensuing kickoff, freshman forward
Jahkaya Davis collected the ball on the defensive side of midfield and dribbled 40 yards into the Albany box before ripping a similar high 23-yard strike into the top netting. It was Davis' fifth goal of the season.
Binghamton registered 16 shots and senior keeper
Kaitlyn Williams needed to make just two saves as the Bearcats posted their fourth shutout of the season.
