VESTAL, N.Y. - Reigning America East regular season champion Binghamton women's soccer will continue its annual kickoff role when the Bearcats open the 2026-27 school year. Eleventh-year head coach Neel Bhattacharjee brings his team back to campus in late July and will open the team's fall campaign at home against Lehigh on Aug. 13.

The Lehigh game begins an eight-game non-conference slate that features five games at the Bearcats Sports Complex. In late September, Binghamton embarks on its eight-game America East slate with designs on capturing the program's fourth regular season title in the last five years. 

After the Lehigh game, the Bearcats will face Marist at home (Aug. 16) and then head up I-81 to see former assistant coach Taylor Van Fleet and her Le Moyne team (Aug. 23). A tough four-game stretch ensues with games against nine-win Siena (Aug. 27), 12-win Buffalo (Aug. 30 away), ACC member Syracuse (Sept. 3 home) and Big 10 member Maryland (Sept. 6 away). After a Sept. 13 home date with traditional Upstate rival Cornell, the Bearcats will start conference play by hosting UMass Lowell on Sept. 20. Binghamton plays four of its first six America East games at home before finishing with three of four on the road. With final playoff seeds on the line, the Bearcats will take the long treks to Maine (Oct. 25) and Vermont (Nov. 1) to close the regular season.

The America East tournament schedule has quarterfinal games on Nov. 5, semifinals on Nov. 8 and the championship game on Nov. 15.   

"Our team is eagerly awaiting the start of the fall of the 2026 season," Bhattachartjee said. "We have shown great development last spring with our scrimmages and trip to Europe and are continuing that progress individually this summer and into our preseason set to begin next month. We return a good amount of experience with strong leadership, and look forward to welcoming eight freshmen and two transfers within our team culture. Our non-conference slate features two Power 4 teams along with a number of programs that are coming off postseason play last year. We know this caliber of opposition will prepare us for our ambitions of competing for America East regular season and postseason titles. We look forward to playing against high quality opposition and getting ready for another exciting season of Bearcats soccer."

Binghamton returns nine starters from its 2025 team that produced a 13-game unbeaten streak, the fewest losses in program history (1), an unbeaten conference record and a third regular-season title in the last four years. The unbeaten streak spanned more than 10 weeks. Under Bhattacharjee's charge, the Bearcats have lost just three America East games in their last four seasons (20-3-9, 77%) - the best combined mark in the conference.