VESTAL, N.Y. –
Jahkaya Davis' goal in the second half helped the Binghamton women's soccer team (8-2-4, 4-0-2 America East) defeat the New Jersey Institute of Technology (4-9-2, 1-5-1 America East) 1-0 Thursday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
With the victory, Binghamton clinched a spot in the America East Women's Soccer Championship for the eight-straight year. The Bearcats have qualified for the conference tournament in nine of Head Coach
Neel Bhattacharjee's 11 seasons in charge of the program dating back to 2016. This also continues the Bearcats' longest streak of reaching the America East Women's Soccer Championship since Binghamton began playing in the league in 2002. Additionally, Binghamton extended its unbeaten streak to six games.
"It's great that we clinched," said Bhattacharjee. "Now what we want to do is continue to push as far as the regular season title, so we want to get the advantage of playing here at home."
Netminder
Rebecca Kessler also picked up her 10th shutout of the season, breaking the program record held by Kristie Bowers, who posted nine in 2005. Kessler has posted a clean sheet in four of her last five starts.
Binghamton's defense limited NJIT's scoring opportunities throughout the evening, while the Bearcats' offense put up two shots on goal in the first half. However, Binghamton was unable to find the back of the goal in the first 45 minutes.
Binghamton's big break came with about 14 minutes remaining in regulation. With NJIT holding the ball in their defensive zone, the Highlanders attempted to send the ball down the field. But
Paige Luke got in the way of the kick, sending the ball towards the NJIT box. Davis met the ball at the box, before navigating around a defender, and ultimately firing a shot with her left foot toward the bottom-right corner for the go-ahead goal at 76:02.
Davis retook the lead in the America East with eight goals on the season, matching her career high from 2025. She has also scored five goals in her last five games, all against America East opponents.
The Bearcats defended their side of the pitch for the remainder of the match, only conceding one shot on goal by the Highlanders. That opportunity came with less than seven minutes remaining, when Kirra Hyder sent in a shot from outside of the box, which was caught by Kessler.
Binghamton now prepares for its final road game of the regular season, as the Bearcats travel to face Maine at noon on Sunday.
The Miller Auto Team is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Women's Soccer.
