VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton women's soccer will look to reverse the regular-season result and keep its postseason alive when the third-seeded Bearcats (7-5-5) meet second-seeded New Hampshire (11-4-1) in an America East semifinal match Thursday night in Durham. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.
The Bearcats are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3, third-longest in program history) and are coming off a dramatic shootout win over Vermont in Sunday's quarterfinals. After the teams played 110 scoreless minutes, they were even through five penalty kicks before Binghamton prevailed 3-2 in the first sudden-death round. Sophomore keeper
Rebecca Kessler was the hero after stopping four of the six penalties she faced. After Kessler made her final save to keep the shootout tied at 2-2, senior forward
Hannah Mimas converted her shot to send the team into the semifinals.
Binghamton is making its sixth straight postseason appearance and will play in the semifinals for the third straight season. The Bearcats will face UNH for the second time this season. Back on Sept. 29 (5 1/2 weeks ago) UNH prevailed 1-0 in Vestal when a Bearcat defensive clear attempt banked into the net off an UNH player in the 27th minute. New Hampshire held a 10-3 shots advantage, including 4-1 in shots on goal. Binghamton has faced UNH six times in the America East tournament (2-1-3) — more than any other opponent. It's the first time the teams have met in the semifinals (5x in quarters, 1x in finals).
Binghamton has three all-conference selections in Mimas (first team), sophomore center back
Sophia Garofalo (first team) and freshman midfielder
Anna Buckwalter, who earned second team all-conference and Rookie of the Year honors.
With a semifinal advancement (win or tie/PKs), Binghamton would play the winner of the other semifinal between No. 4 UMass Lowell and No. 1 Maine. The higher-seeded finalist would host the game on Sunday, Nov. 10.
New Hampshire has been idle since dropping a 1-0 home decision to Maine on Oct. 31. The Wildcats have only allowed 10 goals all season and boast the conference Defender of the Year (Maddie Kolb), Goalkeeper of the Year (Sally Rainey) and the Striker of the Year (Meghan Guarente). Five of the team's eight conference games were decided by one goal, including the win over the Bearcats. UNH captured the 2022 conference title after edging Binghamton in penalty kicks in the championship game in Vestal (after a 4-4 tie) and then lost in the quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed in 2023.
