VESTAL, N.Y. - Junior forward
Jahkaya Davis scored twice and Binghamton women's soccer (1-0) opened its season with a convincing 3-0 win over visiting Lehigh (0-1) Thursday night at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
The Bearcats extended a 1-0 halftime lead early in the second half, held a 16-3 shots advantage and maintained a lopsided possession margin over their Patriot League opponent.
Davis netted goals in the 36th and 53rd minutes and freshman midfielder
Chelsea Donaldson scored her first collegiate goal in the 72nd minute. Senior forward
Paige Luke assisted on both Davis goals. In back, senior keeper
Rebecca Kessler wasn't called on to make a save in posting the shutout.
"We wanted to get off to a good start and we saw a lot of different elements come out that we were working on in preseason," 11th-year head coach
Neel Bhattacharjee said postgame. "This was a good starting point for this group, which is very coachable and they will only continue to evolve and improve. Our press was able to work well at times and we created transition moments. We also made good decisions in our possession. Overall, it was pretty good performance, but being early in the season, there are always some things we can work on."
Davis opened the scoring late in the first half. Luke sent a bouncing ball between two defenders to Davis, who dribbled into the box and beat the onrushing keeper with a 12-yard shot to the upper netting for a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second half, the Luke-Davis tandem connected again. Luke dribbled into the middle and sent Davis through with a ball that was partially deflected by a Mountain Hawk defender. Davis collected it, had one touch and then a strong 13-yard finish to the lower right corner for a 2-0 margin.
Donaldson netted her memorable first collegiate goal to close the scoring in the 72nd minute. Sophomore forward
Crystal Knoell used a deft stepover on the right side to free up space and her cross into the middle was headed toward goal by freshman
Ava Chun. The Lehigh keeper made the save, but Donaldson pounced on the rebound and finished it through the keeper's legs from six yards.
Binghamton settled for three goals but were it not for two crossbars (both from Luke) and a post (Davis), it could've been a big number. In the seventh minute, Luke rifled a 16-yard shot off the crossbar. And then with just 55 seconds left in the half, Luke headed a ball at the far post that hit the bar. Four minutes into the second half, Davis had her own turn of bad luck when her shot off a beautiful give-and-go with Luke beat the keeper but banked off the left post.
The Bearcats welcome Marist (0-0) and former assistant coach Nicole Pacapelli Ciano to campus for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.
NOTE
Miller Auto Team is the presenting sponsor of Binghamton women's soccer. Complimentary admission to all home games courtesy of
Miller Auto Team.
