MEN'S SOCCER DAILY UPDATE

November 5, 2008

When They Last Met

Binghamton and New Hampshire square off in the America East Quarterfinals on Saturday night at the Bearcats Sports Complex. It marks a rematch of the 2004 quarterfinals, which produced one of the most dramatic moments in the Bearcats' post season history. With so many significant playoff memories the past five years, however, that match tends be forgotten by many people in the Binghamton men's soccer community.

After its stunning run to capture the 2003 America East title, the Bearcats remained near the top of the standings in 2004. Binghamton was 10-2-5 heading into their final regular season game at Albany on Nov. 3, 2004. Needing a win to secure a first-round bye, the Bearcats went up 2-0 in the first half. The Great Danes, however, rallied to hand Binghamton a bitter 3-2 setback. As a result, Binghamton dropped to the No. 3 seed and would host a quarterfinal game against No. 6 New Hampshire on Saturday, Nov. 6.

Three days before the match, heavy rains soaked the old West Gym Field. In addition, a cold front dropped temperatures into the high 30s, freezing the field. The surface was deemed unplayable, which could not have come at a worse time for the Binghamton Athletic Department. The women's soccer team had just captured the America East regular season title and earned the right to host the conference semfinals (on Nov. 5) and finals (on Nov. 7). With three days of playoff soccer, Binghamton officials were scrambling for solutions.

Fortunately, the practice field next to West Gym Field held up despite the brutal weather conditions. All three days worth of games would be played there. With no bleachers, however, the fans had to stand on the sidelines. When the women's semifinals were played on that Friday, the temperature never made it above 40.

The sun returned on Saturday and despite a strong breeze, the temperature made it up to 50 degrees. For the first 45 minutes, each team had four shots on goal but had few serious scoring opportunities. The field, having been through two women's games the day before, appeared to slow up the offense.

Determined to end the game in regulation, the Bearcats outshot the Wildcats 9-1 in the second half. After 90 minutes, however, the score was still 0-0. Following a pair of 10-minute overtime periods, the match went into the final penalty kick shootout.

In goal for Binghamton that day was junior Stefan Gonet, the 2003 America East Goalkeeper of the Year and America East Tournament MVP. He was rated first in the nation with a 0.38 goals against average as a sophomore. In 2004, he still had a 0.88 goals against average. It was solid but not spectacular like the previous season. Against New Hampshire, however, Gonet would create one of the lasting images of the season.

Through four rounds of penalty kicks, Gonet had stopped a pair of shots. It was good enough for a win but New Hampshire goalkeeper Brian Levey also made a two saves. The shootout went to the top of the fifth round, all knotted at 2-2.

It was then that Gonet stepped out from the mouth of the goal and positioned himself at the top of the box. He would take Binghamton's final shot against Levey. Having watched the previous four rounds, Gonet had a plan.

"We kept on missing on the left so right away I knew I had to put it to the right," he said. "I have taken plenty of kicks before I came to Binghamton and being a keeper, I think definitely gives you an edge."

Gonet nailed his attempt in the lower-right corner of the net. Binghamton was up 3-2 but the Bearcat goalkeeper knew what was at stake.

"There was no time for me to celebrate because I knew I had to get back out there and make one more stop," he said.

Gonet trotted back towards the goal line, preparing to defend the Wildcats' last chance. The kick would be taken by Logan Lee. Sensing the shot would be low and down the middle, Gonet quickly dove to stop Lee's kick.

The Bearcats had survived the Wildcats and the messy field conditions. Gonet had delivered the winning shot and made the winning save.

"Stefan feels like he can take on the world," head coach Paul Marco said afterwards. "He's never one to lack in the confidence department. You just have to worry about him being too worked up. I put him last in the shootout to calm him down a bit."

The following day, the women's soccer team won their first-ever America East Tournament title. The Bearcats' 2-0 win over Maine in the championship game capped a weekend of soccer that had been memorable in every way.

The men's team returned to the America East finals eight days later but lost the decisive shootout at Boston. Binghamton went back to the next three conference championship games and won the tournament again in 2006. In both 2005 and 2006, Binghamton won home shootouts against Boston University.

While the 2004 game against New Hampshire did not have as much significance as some of the other Binghamton postseason games, it still had its share of drama.

Postscript: On a personal note, the 2004 quarterfinal game against New Hampshire featured one of the best photographic displays on our website. While I was at the computer keeping track of the penalty kicks, my boss John Hartrick went out to midfield with our just-purchased didgital camera. He managed to perfectly capture Gonet's winning kick and save.

That night, Hartrick had our website guru, Elsan Dzuzda place the two photos side by side at the top of our website with the headline "Stef Delivers." What we didn't pick up on until the photos were posted was the prominent view of the Texas Road House Restaurant in background of each of the photos. Other than Gonet and the ball, it was the most conspicuos thing in each picture.

Located across Vestal Parkway and having just been built the previous year, Texas Road House was stationed behind the goal. Since Binghamton hadn't played a game on the practice field in several years, we had not run into that situation before when taking pictures. As far as I know, Texas Road House was not a sponsor of Binghamton athletics that year. But the exposure they got on our website that night was priceless.

Photos of Gonet's shot and save

Posted November 5, 2008. 6 p.m.
Feedback should be sent to dobrian@binghamton.edu.