VESTAL, N.Y. – The #4 UMass Lowell women's soccer team (5-5-7, 3-2-3 AE) will play for the America East Championship after knocking off the #1 Binghamton Bearcats (6-5-6, 5-0-3 AE) in extra time on Thursday night.
 
Fifth year Julia Edholm (Stockholm, Sweden) and junior Hope Santaniello (Agawam, Mass.) scored the goals while redshirt senior Taylor Burgess (Mendon, Mass.) put on an incredible five-save performance in goal for the River Hawks. Senior Chloe Layne (Wrentham, Mass.) tallied two assists while fellow senior Calliste Brookshire (Kingston, Mass.) registered one assist and five shots.
 
Binghamton jumped out to an early lead, scoring in the 2^nd minute off a corner. The ball was played short and whipped into the box before it was put into the net by Sophia Garofalo. The Bearcats dominated possession in the early stages of the game, but only registered the one shot on goal.
 
The River Hawks first attempt on goal came in the 24^th minute, a direct free kick from Laura Cetina, that was saved by the goalkeeper. UMass Lowell started to string more passes together and pin the Bearcats in their own end but could not test Williams between the posts.
 
Another wave of pressure from the hosts in the final 15 minutes was shut down by the River Hawks' defensive unit, keeping the deficit at one. Binghamton went into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead and held a 5-1 edge in shots and a 4-1 corner advantage. Both sides had just one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
 
Binghamton opened the second half with three shots in the first 10 minutes, but none came on target. The early pressure had the River Hawks pinned in their own end as the visitors looked for an equalizer. Taylor Burgess came up with a big save in the 60^th minute after a giveaway in the midfield. The Bearcats worked the ball back to the penalty spot, but the effort was stopped by the veteran goalkeeper.
 
The equalizer came in the 69^th minute after Chloe Layne fed a ball into the path of Julia Edholm. The fifth year took one touch and fired a shot across the goal into the bottom corner, tying the game with 20 minutes to play. The goal sparked life in the River Hawks who began controlling the game.
 
Calliste Brookshire had a chance to put UMass Lowell in front in the 83^rd minute, but the senior's left-footed strike was saved by Williams. Burgess came up with another timely stop in the 86^th minute, saving Lexi Vegoda's left-footed shot from outside the box. Brookshire had another effort in the 88^th minute that went square off the post and was cleared away, keeping the game level.
 
The game went into extra time tied at 1-1 with shots 14-9 in favor Binghamton, but shots on goal 4-3 for UMass Lowell. Binghamton had the first chance of extra time as a shot by Victoria McKnight went just over the crossbar. Laura Cetina's clever footwork found her in space at the top of the box in the 99^th minute, but her shot was tipped onto the crossbar and cleared.
 
In the 102^nd minute, Brookshire played a low ball into the box from a corner that was flicked onto the back post by Chloe Layne. Hope Santaniello battled for position and got a head to the ball, flicking it into the corner to give UMass Lowell a 2-1 lead in extra time.
With their season on the line, the Bearcats stepped up the pressure on the UMass Lowell goal. The River Hawks frantically defended an on slot of pressure and shots in the final five minutes of extra time, trying to hold onto the lead. Burgess made another huge save with 47 seconds to play, pushing a close-range shot over the crossbar.
 
The River Hawks held on to knock off the top-seeded Binghamton Bearcats and advance to the America East Championship game. UMass Lowell will travel to Orono to take on #2 Maine on Sunday afternoon.