The Massachusetts women’s soccer team is experiencing a bit of a slide. The Minutewomen came into Sunday afternoon’s contest against the Binghamton Bearcats, struggling through a three-game scoreless losing streak.

The Maroon and White broke the goalless streak early and led 2-1 late in game in the pouring rain. But the Bearcats wouldn’t back down, stepping up their physicality and netting two unanswered goals to surpass the Minutewomen 3-2 in heart-breaking fashion for the Maroon and White.

“It was a disappointing finish,” UMass coach Jim Rudy said. “Although we are definitely showing positive signs from the Central Connecticut game to now.”

UMass controlled the tempo and momentum in the second half as it held onto a 2-1 lead, but that would soon change at around the 80-minute mark. The Bearcats physical play was turned up a few notches, as they began making an excessive amount contact and committing multiple fouls. Binghamton tallied up 16 fouls in the game – nine of which came in the latter part of the second half.

Finally, Binghamton caught a break. Freshmen forward Danielle White streaked past the defender, racing to ball and sending it home to tie the game 2-2 at 80:15.

Just two minutes later, the Bearcats netted the game-winning goal. With under eight minutes to go, Vicky Vernicek floated a corner kick to Kelly Burnham, who headed it in to put the Bearcats up 3-2, a lead that would last until the final whistle.

The Minutewomen tried to rally with under two minutes left, heightening their offensive attack, but were unable to find the back of the net. The Binghamton defense ensured that the ball stayed out of its zone in the last minute, and as the clock read zero, the Maroon and White were astonished to see that they weren’t victorious in this heartbreaker.

UMass held the upper hand in shots, outshooting Binghamton 21-10, and had seven corner kicks to the Bearcats’ six.

Maroon and White goalkeeper Kelly Nigh racked up a total of six saves in the contest. Her counterpart for Binghamton, freshman Kristie Bowers, put forth an impressive showing, notching nine saves in the win.

UMass stormed out of the gates in the first half, bombarding Bowers with a wide array of shots. Leading the Maroon and White on the attack was junior Lindsey Fairweather, sophomore Morgan Czaja (three shots in the offense half) and freshman defender Nadia Villarroel, along with the other offensive players.

The Maroon and White struck first, with 13:03 showing on the clock, when sophomore Adair Blyler, in her first game back since injuring her knee (eight points), controlled the deflected ball off of Bowers and punched it home to give UMass the 1-0 lead.

“Breaking out of our [scoring] slump,” Rudy said, “was definitely a positive today.”

Binghamton wasted no time in returning the favor, with 10:33 remaining in the half, Vernicek booted the free kick past Nigh to deadlock the game at one a piece.

UMass took the lead in the second only 6:07 into the half, when Fairweather scored on a free kick from sophomore Lindsey Bellini to give the Minutewomen the commanding 2-1 lead. Fairweather tallied up a total of 10 shots on the afternoon.

“It’s nice to have her back on the field,” Rudy said of the junior forward. “She’s an outstanding player.”