Sports
News
 |
| There are
smiles all around as the women's soccer team and its coaching
staff gather around the America East championship trophy. |
2004 Fall Sports Review
Women's soccer conference championship highlights
record-breaking fall season
The achievements of the women's soccer team highlighted the most
successful all-around fall season in Binghamton's Division I tenure.
Headed by the America East title run of head coach Jeff Leightman's
soccer squad, Binghamton ranked second out of 10 teams in the conference
Commissioner's Cup standings, which are based on overall sports
success. All three of BU's team sports advanced to post-season
play, and for the second straight year, a Bearcats soccer team celebrated
an America East championship on the West Gym field.
One year after the highly acclaimed men's soccer team hoisted the
conference trophy in front of a home crowd, the women's soccer
team capped a remarkable late-season run with its own crowning moment
on campus. Led by America East Coach of the Year Leightman, the women's
team ignored the preseason poll, which had positioned them in eighth
place, and instead vaulted to first place with a 6-3 conference record
and 14-6-1 overall mark. In the postseason, BU didn't allow a goal
in two tournament games en route to the program's first America
East championship and automatic NCAA tournament berth. The national championship
brackets were unveiled live on ESPNews, and the Bearcats' accomplishments
drew praise from the television analysts. In the NCAA tournament, unseeded
BU drew No. 2 Penn State, and the powerful Nittany Lions ended Binghamton's
storybook season with a first-round defeat.
Among players receiving accolades was junior defender Meghan Taylor,
who anchored a BU back line that recorded eight shutouts, including back-to-back
shutouts in the tournament. Taylor was a first-team America East all-star
and also was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after
scoring the game-winning goal in the title game win over Maine. Senior
forward Tatiana Mathelier was a first team all-conference selection and
classmate Deli Plourde was a first-team selection.
Meanwhile coach Paul Marco's team kept alive its hopes of defending
its men's soccer conference crown and returning to the NCAA tournament
until the final penalty kick of a mid-November shootout in Boston. The
Bearcats were beaten just twice in 21 games and were ranked as high as
No. 19. In the postseason, the team continued its penchant for the dramatic
with a shootout win over New Hampshire in the America East quarterfinals.
In that riveting 10-kick sequence in front of a boisterous home crowd,
sophomore goalkeeper Stef Gonet stepped out from the goal and was BU's
final shooter, scoring from 12 yards away. Gonet then returned between
the pipes to make a diving stop on New Hampshire's final attempt.
Gonet's double-duty effort propelled the Bearcats into the semifinals.
Playing rival Albany on the road, Binghamton scored two goals in an 88-second
span to erase a Great Danes lead and push itself into the title-game
tilt with Boston University where the Terriers forced extra time with
a late goal and then dethroned the Bearcats in a penalty-kick shootout.
Senior forward Charles Darkwah received high honors on the field and
in the classroom. After netting a conference-best 12 goals with five
assists, he was named the America East Striker of the Year and was recognized
as a national Academic All-American for his soccer accomplishments and
his work in the School of Education and Human Development, where he is
a Dean's List student. Junior center back Graham Munro repeated
as the league's Defender of the Year and was voted first team all-conference
for the third consecutive season. Junior midfielder Danilo, the team's
workhorse and pivotal playmaker, also earned first-team all-conference
laurels.
Volleyball
The volleyball team enjoyed its finest season in America East conference
play, finishing fourth to earn a postseason tournament berth. For the
second straight year, coach Glenn Kiriyama's squad had to overcome
a devastating injury to a star player -- this time to one of the
premier blockers and hitters in the conference, senior Anne Crocus. Despite
being forced to push several freshmen into the starting lineup, Kiriyama
rallied his Bearcats to resounding back-to-back wins over UMBC and Stony
Brook to clinch the program's first America East tournament berth.
Senior hitter Michele Heck and first-year blocker Jacki Kane were selected
to the all-conference team. Heck became the school's all-time kills
leader with 1,441, while Kane replaced Crocus at the net and responded
by averaging more than a block per game to rank second (to Crocus) in
the conference. As a team, BU finished 17-17 overall.
Cross Country
The women's cross country team, coached by Annette Acuff, also
enjoyed its best season at Division I, with six top-5 team finishes,
capped by a fourth-place showing at the America East championship. Juniors
Erica Angell and Stacy Kramer earned all-conference honors by placing
eighth and 10th, respectively, at the conference meet. Earlier in the
season, Angell won the Albany Invitational, beating 226 runners to become
the first Binghamton runner to ever capture the longstanding race. Kramer
capped her season with a strong runner-up finish among 143 runners at
the ECAC Championship.
On the men's side, BU enjoyed a pair of top-3 finishes before placing
seventh at the conference meet.
Golf
The golf team maintained its lofty position near the top of the
Northeast with yet another outstanding season. Under head coach Nick
Lasky, the
Bearcats won three tournaments -- including the prestigious Yale
Invitational -- and placed among the top two in its final five outings
of the fall. At Yale, junior Kevin Crawford and sophomore Jeff Wolniewicz
shot 66 on consecutive days to lead the Bearcats past Rhode Island and
Yale. Wolniewicz, who is quickly emerging as one of the region's
top players, won his first collegiate tournament at Yale and produced
a team-best scoring average of 73.1 in the fall. The Bearcats will look
to advance to the NCAA tournament for the 11th time in 14 years when
the heart of their schedule resumes in April.
Tennis
The men's and women's tennis teams eased into their seasons
with a selection of dual matches and tournament play in the fall. Two-time
reigning America East Coach of the Year Michael Starke brought in a slew
of talented freshmen to try to win the program's third straight
America East title, and the team opened defense with a perfect 3-0 start.
Sophomore No. 1 Dan Hanegby furthered his cause for a national ranking
with a 12-3 start that included a win over the 81st-ranked player in
the country at the Milwaukee Collegiate Classic. The women, under second-year
coach Mike Stevens, also were undefeated in the fall, while sporting
a starting lineup that was 100 percent underclassmen. |
