Stony Brook men’s soccer saw its Cinderella dream fall just short on Saturday night, as the Seawolves fell in six rounds of penalty kicks to Binghamton in the America East Quarterfinals.
Their record on the season ended at 4-13-2 after the loss in penalty kicks.
The first half was a slow one for both squads offensively, giving defense the stage right out of the gate. There were only four shots total and just one on goal between the two teams.
The Seawolves did have the edge in the early going with a 4-0 corner advantage, but could not capitalize.
The second half saw both teams finally find the back of the net.
Stony Brook struck first and early.
Freshman Thibault Duval found senior Keith McKenna on a free kick for a header that was put home in the 46th minute.
The Seawolves attack pressed on, with three more shots on goal in the second half, compared to Binghamton’s one.
Stony Brook once again had more corner tries than Binghamton in the second half, 3-2.
SBU could not maintain its lead however, as the Bearcats found the equalizer at the heel, or rather head, of junior Tucker Sandercock in the 79th minute.
Tied at one apiece in the 90th minute, the game headed into extra time.
Neither team found the back of the net in the added 20 minutes, but the Seawolves had a golden opportunity in the first overtime when redshirt freshman Fernando Wadskier hit the inside post on a strike off a rebound.
With the game still in a knot, penalty kicks would decide which team advanced to the semifinals.
Freshman midfielder Martin Giordano was first for Stony Brook, scoring to the left of the keeper.
Binghamton then evened things up, giving Seawolves freshman Vince Erdei the chance to take the lead. He did so, but the Bearcats scored to tie it at 2-2.
Junior Alejandro Fritz then had his shot saved, allowing Binghamton to jump ahead with a goal.
Junior Mario Mesen then scored for SBU and goalkeeper Tom McMahon made the save to keep the score tied at 3-3.
Both sides exchanged saves, sending penalty kicks into a sixth round, when Binghamton finally pulled through after Stony Brook’s Tavares Thompson’s shot was saved, 4-3.
Binghamton will advance to play the No. 2 seed Hartford Hawks in the America East semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The Bearcats outshot Stony Brook, 11-9, in the match.
The Seawolves led in shots on goal by the count of five shots to Binghamton’s three.
Duval finishes as SBU’s leader in points this season with nine. He was followed by Giordano, Fritz and McKenna, each having eight.
Giordano led the squad in total goals on the season with 21. Behind him was Fritz with 16 shots on net and Wadskier with 13 shots on goal.
McMahon finished with a save percentage of .735 this season.
In a rough season hinged primarily on a group of neophytes, putting together this strong of a performance against a hardened Binghamton squad was an impressive way to go out.
The Seawolves will only be graduating one player heading into next season. This should leave them plenty of room for growth as they look ahead to 2015.
