BU ranks last in America East preseason coaches' poll
8/26/21 by Ian Mills
Photo from Harry Karpen, Photography Editor
After missing the playoffs last year, the Binghamton men’s soccer team is looking to upset this season’s America East (AE) preseason coaches’ poll. The Bearcats were ranked last in the conference poll, but seem ready to take on their first full slate of games since 2019.
“We all have [the poll] posted in our locker room so we see it every day,” said redshirt junior goalkeeper P.J. Parker. “We’re definitely going [into] every game knowing that. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, we’ve got nothing to lose and we’re just gonna play well as best we can.”
Parker is one of three returning goalkeepers on the Bearcat roster. Last year, Parker kept goal for the majority of the action, but junior goalkeeper Mats Roorda started three games last year and is expected to stay in rotation with Parker this season.
Including Parker, the Bearcats return 10 of their top 11 contributors in minutes from last year. Among them is graduate student midfielder Noah Luescher, who returns for an unexpected fifth year with the Bearcats. Last season, he was named to the AE first team all-conference and ranked seventh in the nation with an average of .833 goals per game. Luescher trained with Loudoun United FC, a professional soccer team based in Virginia, during the summer in preparation for his return with the Bearcats.
“The team spirit is so great,” Luescher said. “We’re very good on the ball. We’ve worked a lot on building out of the back on the attacking side. The togetherness of the group and willingness to share the ball with each other. Fighting for each other is probably what’s going to bring us forward this year.”
Binghamton head coach Paul Marco, who returns for his 20th season with the Bearcats, believes the team’s depth will be a major strength for BU heading into the fall.
“I think it’ll be very competitive in every position on the field, it’s going to be terrific,” Marco said. “Picking the team sheet for Thursday night will be very difficult, a challenge I’m really looking forward to.”
In AE play, Binghamton averaged the third-most goals per game last year while also surrendering the third-most goals per game. Marco believes attacking the ball is one way to create more opportunities for offense while mitigating the opponent’s shots.
“We’ve really tried to focus on the attacking side of the ball with some buildup play,” Marco said. “That would be from the goal line, endline, all the way out to 35, 40 yards from the opponent’s goal. I think our back players and midfield players and the guys up front have done a great job embracing the value of the ball. We started talking about this a year and a half ago and I really think the pieces are starting to fly together.”
Binghamton ended its shortened spring season with a 2-4-0 record and second in their pod. At the start of last season’s competition, the Bearcats began the year with a 2-1 win over Albany. Immediately after, however, they had to take a two-week hiatus due to COVID-19 concerns. Marco said this break created some adversity for the team early on.
“I thought the group was flying in January and February,” Marco said. “Then after our first game with Albany, we had a great result and we played really well. Then we go on a two-week pause because of COVID-19. I’ve never experienced anything like that, being away from the team and middle of the season for two weeks.”
The Bearcats are currently scheduled to play 16 games with eight scheduled as conference matchups. Of BU’s opening nine nonconference matches, only one is set to be played at home. However, Marco seems ready to take on this season’s challenges.
“We had a lot of hurdles that I don’t think you normally would see in a normal season that showed how to deal with some adversity, to deal with some obstacles to get around and over,” Marco said. “It’s the game — you try and beat the opponent by going over them, by going around them and by going through them, and I thought that groups come a long way in trying to figure out those pieces.”
Binghamton is set to open its season against Colgate on Thursday, August 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Beyer-Small ‘76 Field in Hamilton, New York.
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