MEN'S SOCCER DAILY UPDATE

November 13, 2008

Revisionist History

Nearly three weeks ago, we put out a list of Cameron Keith's top five goal-scoring performances during his two seasons at Binghamton. We ended the post with the hope that there would be more games ahead worthy of being included on that list. Needless to say, Keith has answered to that in the past two games. Here, therefore, is a revised list of his top five goal scoring performances, as of today.

5. October 20, 2007: Keith's second career hat trick, recorded against Maine. The Bearcats won 5-0 in their highest scoring game in over four years. The game was also significant for featuring three goals in a span of 1:37 in the first half. Keith had the second goal during that run.

4. November 8, 2008. Binghamton struggled offensively toward the end of the postseason but less than seven minutes into its quarterfinal game against New Hampshire, Keith ended the drought with his eighth goal of the season. He later added a pair of assists in the Bearcats' 3-1 win.

3. September 29, 2007. In the men's soccer program's first-ever game at the Bearcats Sports Complex, Keith records a hat trick in the 3-0 win over Cornell.

2. October 6, 2007. Keith scores two goals, including the game-winner in overtime as Binghamton defeated Boston 2-1 on Homecoming Weekend.

1. November 12, 2008. In a historic win for the Bearcats, Keith scored a goal that will go down in history. His winning shot 1:13 into the second sudden-death overtime period propelled the Bearcats into their conference-record sixth consecutive conference championship game. Bottled up by the Albany defense the entire game, he finally broke free in the 101st minute and made the most of the opportunity. Given the fact that the game was on the road only adds to the significance of Keith's dramatic goal.

Once again, here is hoping that this is not the final list of his career. Isn't that what we were saying three weeks ago.

Don't Forget About Cody

With his continued postseason heroics, senior midfielder Cody Germain also deserves to have a list of top performances. Only problem is, how does one choose between his assist on Wednesday, his game-winning goal against UMBC in the 2007 semifinals or his assist against Boston in the 2006 semifinals.

My own personal pick is the 2006 game against Boston. Unlike the other two games mentioned above, Binghamton was actually down 1-0 with less than 10 minutes to go. The other two games were scoreless. In the 2006 game, the Terriers were packing the defense in and appeared ready to ice the game. Germain, however, fired a 40-yard cross that Joey Nielson headed into the goal. Without that cross, Binghamton was all but done.

There is, however, another opinion from junior goalkeeper Jason Stenta, who during an interview in the summer, recalled how Germain scored the final two goals in a 4-3 come-from-behind victory. That game was Stenta's first career start.

"If he doesn't score those two goals, I probably wouldn't have been the starter the following game."

Three years and 31 shutouts later, Stenta doesn't need to worry about that happening in the near future.

Further Updates

In talking with many of the players on Thursday, one of the things that they will remember the most about Wednesday was the level of support they got both during and after the game. While they were impressed with the number of Binghamton Athletic Department administrators who made the trip to Albany, they were blown away by the Hooligans welcoming them back to campus after their win in the semifinals.

Three TV reporters were on hand to interview the players as they got off the bus back at Binghamton and the Hooligans got some well-deserved air time. While they clearly wanted to be at home for the finals, the Hooligans are preparing to make the trip to Boston on Saturday.

Posted November 13, 2008. 5 p.m.
Feedback should be sent to dobrian@binghamton.edu.