The University of Maine women’s soccer team is headed to the America East Championship game for a third straight season. The #4 seed Black Bears got a goal from Victoria Dungey in the second overtime period on Thursday evening, in upsetting #1 Binghamton 1-0 in a conference semifinal game played at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Binghamton, New York. Maine will now have a chance to defend their back to back league titles this coming Sunday afternoon.
Maine did an outstanding job to keep the high scoring Binghamton team off the scoreboard, and to only four shots on goal in over 105 minutes played. The Bearcats had scored 27 goals in their 16 games entering the semifinal match. BU did control alot of the possession in the last 20 or so minutes of regulation and for a good portion of the first overtime period. At the 5:22 mark of the second overtime stanza, Black Bears senior forward Jordane Pinette made a great hustle play that set up the game winning golden goal. Pinette played a ball ahead and into the box, and then outraced two Binghamton defenders to gather it pulling Bearcats goalie Rebecca Kessler off her spot and out of her goal. Pinette calmly took her time and dropped it to a wide open Dungey who kicked it into the deserted net to send Maine to the title game.
Freshman Elena Barenberg made four saves in the Maine victory, recording her third career shutout. Pinette picked up the unselfish assist on the overtime game winner. Kessler made four stops in the loss. Anna Buckwalter had five attempted shots (two on net), as the Bearcats end their season with a record of 10-2-5. Binghamton suffers their first defeat to an America East team this season, as they had ended the regular year in conference play at 5-0-3. The Black Bears (6-7-3) will now travel to #2 Vermont to meet the Catamounts (8-4-5) for the conference championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. UVM won the lone regular season meeting over Maine in Orono 1-0 back on October 12th.
Photos top to bottom of Victoria Dungey, Jordane Pinette, and Elena Barenberg are courtesy of UMaine Athletics
