Abby Kraemer scored a first half penalty kick goal, and Kayla Kraemer added a game winning tally in the second half Sunday afternoon as the Maine Black Bears defeated the Binghamton Bearcats 2-1 in the America East women’s soccer conference opener at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.
Maine, the defending America East champion, opened the scoring when a Binghamton defender was called for a hand ball in the Bearcats box, leading to a Abby Kraemer penalty kick that she deposited into the upper corner of the net to the left of goalie Kaitlyn Williams in the 6th minute. The Black Bears extended their lead when Kayla Kraemer scored off a nice lead pass and assist from Jordane Pinette in the 81st minute. Binghamton responded just over two minutes later when Jahkaya Davis found the back of the net off a helper from Lauren Clark, but simply ran out of time as Maine took the league opener.
The tally by Abby Kraemer was her first of the season, and the 25th of her career, giving her sole possession of second place on the all-time list for goals scored in program history at UMaine. Jessica Kasacek made four saves in the Black Bear net. Binghamton led in shots on goal 5-4, and in corner opportunities 4-3. Williams made two saves in the loss for the Bearcats, who falls to 3-4-2 overall (0-1 in America East). Maine is now 5-1-2, 1-0 in conference play and will hit the road to Burlington, Vermont to battle the Catamounts next Sunday at 1 p.m.
