By james art 
Mimas buries game-winning penalty kick, BU faces New Hampshire in conference semifinals.
After heartbreaking losses in the America East playoffs to end its season the past two years, the No. 3-seeded Binghamton women’s soccer team finally got a playoff win at Vestal by defeating No. 6 Vermont in the AE quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon . After 110 minutes of play, both sides were tied at 0-0. In the end, the win for the Bearcats came down to the last possible penalty kick off the boot of senior forward Hannah Mimas, sending the team to the AE semifinals.
“It’s great that we keep going through the season,” Binghamton head coach Neil Bhattacharjee said. “It’s fun when you can play in that moment, play those high-impact games where it’s do or die and you keep moving forward. It’s great to get the result today to move forward and we’re certainly looking forward to trying to do more of the same on Thursday.”
To start the contest, Vermont got the kickoff and established control of the ball early, but Binghamton’s back line kept them away from the third down, setting the tone for the defense early. As the game remained at 0-0, both sides continued to create opportunities. For the Catamounts, one such moment came in the 15th minute with a breakaway look at goal, but senior goalie Caitlin Williams slid the ball in to keep it in a knot. Binghamton got a strong look in the 34th minute, with Mimas inches away from scoring, but the Vermont guard knocked the ball out. The game remained scoreless until halftime.
“[Vermont] they had another number at the back so they had an extra defender compared to what we saw a few weeks ago,” Bhattacharjee said. “It’s a departure from what Vermont usually does, and I think it was a move that certainly helped them. We were able to get a good attack against them when we played them a few weeks ago, whereas this time we needed a bit more to break them down.”
The second period was defined by shifts in attacking momentum between the Bearcats and Catamounts. One of the most dangerous looks of the game came from the Catamounts in the 56th minute on the left side of the box, but junior defender Brooke Herber got in front of him and Williams took it out to prevent the score. Then in the 61st minute, Mimas fired wide from the left corner, but the resulting shot rolled just to the right of the goal. Vermont got another dangerous second chance after a Williams save came back into play in the 81st minute, but Williams made his second shot. After 90 minutes the score was 0-0 and for the third year in a row the AE playoffs went to overtime at Vestal.
“It was a little dangerous when Vermont caught us in transition,” Bhattacharjee said. “We had to catch up, especially defensively. I thought we took care of those moments for the most part… Now they really had, without a doubt, some very dangerous chances.”
The offensive stalemate carried over into both overtimes, and the onus to keep Binghamton’s season alive rested on Williams’ shoulders. During the 95th minute of the game, the Catamounts pressed the Bearcats’ third down, but Williams scooped up the ball and cleared the sequence. Then, in the final minute of the second overtime, a BU foul gave Vermont one last look at the goal, which Williams grabbed to save the game and send it to penalty kicks. Traded with sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Kessler for the shootout, Williams left the game with seven saves in 110 minutes.
“One thing we count on [Williams] what you have to do is in this type of games, [is] to make one or two big saves and she did,” Bhattacharjee said.
Vermont started the penalty shootout with its first look past Kessler to the left, and Herber’s look cemented a 1-0 lead for the Catamounts heading into the second round. From there, though, two straight saves by Kessler and goals by junior defender Allison Falvo and freshman midfielder Anna Buckwalter put BU up 2-1 in penalty kicks. After a Binghamton miss, however, the Catamounts resumed penalties. With both sides one shot away from going ahead, Kessler made back-to-back saves to keep things level and give Mimas a chance to close out the match. With the season on the line, Mimas sank his shot to earn the win and send Binghamton to the AE semifinals to meet UNH.
“It’s going to be an interesting dynamic because our program has scored the most goals of any team in the conference and we’re playing UNH, who has given up the fewest goals of any team in the conference,” Bhattacharjee said. “So you’re going to see those two things come to a head.”
No. 3 Binghamton will now visit No. 2 UNH on Thursday, Nov. 7 to face the Wildcats in the AE semifinals. Kickoff is set for 6:00 PM at Wildcat Stadium in Durham, New Hampshire.