VESTAL, N.Y. - Senior goalkeeper
Rebecca Kessler stopped a penalty kick with 44 seconds left to preserve a 2-1 Binghamton women's soccer (7-2-3, 3-0-1 America East) win over visiting New Hampshire (3-7-2, 0-4 AE) on Senior Day Sunday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
With the win, Binghamton kept its hold on first place and extended the program's conference unbeaten streak to 18 games (12-0-6) dating back to the 2024 season.
The Bearcats had more than 60% of the possession and led 2-0 with less than five minutes left before a late UNH surge made for anxious moments. The Wildcats tapped in a dropped cross with 4:46 left to make it a 2-1 game. And then a VAR review with less than a minute left resulted in a Bearcat foul call in the box and ensuing PK attempt. Kessler, who has a long history of penalty kick saves, stepped up yet again to deny Abby Beasley with a diving save.
"It's great to get the full six points this week but we have a bit of a sour feeling today," head coach
Neel Bhattacharjee said. "We left a couple of goals out there today ... we thought we were good enough to get a third or fourth goal and it didn't quite happen. And then we gave up a couple of opportunities in the last five minutes and we could've dropped a few points. Luckily it wasn't the case ... Becca came up big in the final minute.. It's a great feeling but we have a few things we could've done better. Big picture, we will take the win and the first-place standing."
Junior forward
Jahkaya Davis scored in the 12th minute and senior forward
Paige Luke added a goal in the 43rd minute as the Bearcats bookended a dominant first half with goals and carried a 2-0 cushion into intermission.
Davis's goal was an 18-yard strike to the lower right corner for her conference-leading seventh of the season. Luke moved the ball into danger before a pass banked off a UNH defender straight to Davis, who had two touches before ripping a left-footer off the far right post for her fourth of the season.
Luke struck after the Bearcats didn't capitalize on two golden opportunities to add goals - with a missed breakaway in the 26th minute and a missed penalty kick in the 33rd minute. A cross into the box from sophomore
Crystal Knoell bounced off two players and Luke struck an arching right-footed volley that found its way into the near corner for a 2-0 lead. Luke leads the conference with 15 points (4 goals, 7 assists).
In the second half, Davis had a goal disallowed with an offsides call and Binghamton continued its pressure with six corner kicks (10 for game).
Binghamton travels to Baltimore for its next game Sunday at UMBC.
