For Immediate Release: November 11, 2003
Contact: John Hartrick
Phone: 607-777-6800

Women's soccer receives ECAC tournament berth

Binghamton women's soccer (9-7-2) has received a post-season invitation to the ECAC Division I Championship and will carry the No. 2 seed into the three-team tournament this weekend. The Bearcats, coached by Jeff Leightman, will play at No. 3 seed Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 p.m. on Friday, with the winner meeting top-seeded Fordham in Sunday's 1 p.m. championship game.

“We're pleased to be playing at this time of year," Leightman said. "You play all season to get to the post-season, and to still be playing is an honor. Our team is young this year, so we look to this tournament as a springboard to future success."

Top-seeded Fordham (11-6-2) finished as runner-up in the Atlantic 10 Conference, while FDU (8-8-1) played BU tough in a 1-0 loss back on October 17.

"Both Fordham and FDU are quality teams," Leightman said. "Our game against FDU could've gone either way. They've improved every year. And Fordham's record speaks for itself. They were second in a really good league (A-10). It will be a good challenge for us."

The post-season berth is the program's fifth in the last seven years, and will give Binghamton the rare opportunity to capture an ECAC title at all three divisional levels. The 1994 squad won the Division III Mid-Atlantic Championship, and the 1998 team captured the Division II crown. In 2001, Leightman's Bearcats also earned a Division I berth, but fell to Georgetown 4-3 in the semifinals.

Senior striker Tracy Kasmarcik (Binghamton, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) leads the Bearcats with seven goals and 18 points. Last week she was selected to the America East All-Conference second team. Freshman forward Danielle White (Haddon Township, N.J.) has five goals and five assists, and earned a spot on the America East All-Rookie Team. Junior all-conference selection Tatiana Mathelier (Pomona, N.Y./Saddle River Day School, N.J.) anchors a back line that has produced seven shutouts and a 1.79 goals against average.

Already assured of the program's 17th consecutive winning season, BU can reach double-digit wins with a victory. It would mark the 14th time in the last 15 years that Binghamton has won at least 10 games in a season.