SU women’s soccer finishes nonconference play with 1-0 loss to Binghamton
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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — As a kid, after a heartbreaking loss, who else is there to run to but your parents? Their presence makes the pain a little easier to handle. They help you cope with the tragedy when every moment comes rushing back.
That was Tim Howard in an orange Syracuse hoodie and a pair of white Jordans with his daughter, Ali Howard, holding her for what seemed like a minute. Next came Vickie Jones. The team’s leading goal scorer went in for a handshake, and Tim brought her close for a warm embrace. Farrah Stephens-Martin was next. One by one, the former United States Men’s National Team goalie was there to console each Syracuse women’s soccer player who approached him.
It would be hard not to need comfort after a game where SU was in control at halftime. The Orange outshot Binghamton 6-2 in the first half, put four shots on goal to the Bearcats’ one and earned three corners without allowing any. In the end, one mistake — a Bree Bridges own goal — was the difference as Syracuse (3-2-2, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t find its breakthrough against Binghamton (4-0-2, 0-0-0 America East) Thursday.
“I think it was just a willingness to put it away,” SU head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams said. “It’s not like we’re not getting chances.”
Jones tried to create one in the 27th minute. She carried the ball from beyond midfield, took on Binghamton’s defense all alone and fired a shot just wide of the right post. It was SU’s first real chance of the game, and it looked like more were coming.
Two minutes later, Julia Arbelaez created space for herself well outside the box. No one thought she’d take a strike from seven yards out, especially with Abby Incorvaia — tied for the team’s lead in points (six) — making a run ahead of her. But nonetheless, with a clean swipe of her left, Arbelaez sent a ball within one foot of the crossbar, coming so close to capitalizing on SU’s early offense.
Thirty-seven minutes into the opening half, Gabby Wisbeck sent a free kick into a dangerous area, just outside the six-yard box. Jones rose to meet it, heading the ball toward the top of the net. Binghamton goalie Rebecca Kessler leaped up and pushed the ball into and then over the bar. Another attempt that was too close for comfort for the Bearcats.
The 0-0 halftime score didn’t tell the full story. There had hardly been much cheering from the home fans at the bleachers in front of the Tau Alpha Upsilon Alumni Press Box. And the Orange seemed poised to take a second-half lead. Or at minimum, they’d extend their unbeaten streak against Binghamton to 11 and walk away with a draw for the second straight year, right?
Not quite.
Just 14 seconds into the second half, everything changed for Syracuse. Bearcats defender Megan Baker made a run down the right wing, sending in a cross destined for recent ACC Goalie of the Week Maya Naimoli. Naimoli dove, hoping to keep her streak of not allowing an open-play goal alive, but was beaten to it. Not by a Bearcat, no. By an SU defender.
Bridges caught the ball first with her left foot, and it ricocheted into the bottom left netting, giving Binghamton — which had been on its back foot most of the game — a one-goal lead. Jasmine Nixon made a similar error in Syracuse’s 2-1 loss to Niagara on Aug. 27.
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14 seconds derail Syracuse women’s soccer in 1-0 loss at Binghamton
Fourteen seconds into the second half, Bree Bridges scored an own goal in SU’s 1-0 loss to Binghamton Thursday.
“That’s two (times in the last three) games where we made mistakes early on,” Thrasher Adams said. “We have to learn to have a gut check and figure out how to not let something like that ruin the rest of the game.”
The Orange tried to claw their way back but couldn’t find the equalizer. In the final 10 minutes, SU tried to string some last chances together.
Nothing materialized.
In the 82nd minute, Wisbeck, still looking for her first goal contribution of the year, tested Kessler with a right-footed shot from a few steps inside the box. Bearcats fans held their breath as the shot rolled across the goal, but Binghamton’s goalie was there, diving to her right. It was just one highlight of her six-save clean sheet.
A little over two minutes later, Incorvaia sent a through ball into the box for Leda Naihin. The forward didn’t waste any of Syracuse’s precious moments left, firing the ball with her right foot. The powerful strike bounced high off Kessler’s gloves, but with no Syracuse threats in the area, the goalie claimed the ball and the crisis was averted.
The stadium emptied as the team exited with nothing to show for its offensive prowess. The lights eventually turned off, and night settled over the Bearcats Sports Complex. One mistake had decided everything. And when the players needed someone to turn to, Tim was there, his hugs were the last thing left.
