Men's soccer comes up short against Northeastern 2-1

Box score

Vestal, N.Y.---Visiting Northeastern (2-1, 1-0 AE) scored a pair of goals within 3:07 of the second half and went on to defeat Binghamton 2-1 (2-1, 0-1 AE) in an America East Conference men's soccer game at West Gym Field on Tuesday afternoon. The Bearcats outshot the defending America East Conference champions 10-7 but were unable to net the equalizer despite a furious effort in the final minutes.

"We let this one slip through our fingers," head coach Paul Marco said. "Northeastern is a very good team but we should have been a little sharper today. We will regroup for our game against Robert Morris on Friday."

After a scoreless first half, freshman midfielder Daniel Ivec got Northeastern on the board at the 61:18 mark when he shot a diagonal ball from the edge of the penalty box past sophomore goalkeeper Stefan Gonet (Refrewshire, Scotland/ Trinity). Senior midfielder Atha Kirkopoulos, the reigning America East Conference Offensive Player of the Year, extended the margin to 2-0 when he converted a penalty kick at the 64:55 mark.

Binghamton got a goal back when sophomore back Graham Munro (Inverness, Scotland/ Invergordon) converted a penalty kick at the 70:52 mark. The Bearcats kept up the pressure during the closing minutes of the game but sophomore goalkeeper Sergio Saccoccio, who finished the game with seven saves, was able to preserve the win.

Gonet, who had yet to allow a goal this season entering the game, finished the day with five saves.

Up next, the Bearcats head to the St. Francis Tournament for a pair of games this weekend. The Bearcats will face Robert Morris at 2 p.m. on Friday before squaring off against the host school on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.