Never before has a tie felt so much like a win.

The Binghamton men’s soccer team (8-6-4, 6-1-1 AE) won the 2006 America East regular season title by virtue of a 0-0 tie against second-place Vermont (8-5-4, 5-1-2 AE) on Saturday. It is the first regular season title for the Bearcats, who won the 2003 conference tournament.

“I think for this team to get from where we were to where we are now, it’s a very different journey than in 2003, when we were consistently winning,” said senior midfielder Bryan Arnault. “To turn it around like we have is just impressive. It feels great.”

The win gives Binghamton the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming tournament. They will host all the games they play, including the Nov. 1 semifinal against either No. 4 Albany or No. 5 Boston University. Binghamton is undefeated in its last 11 home games.

Freshman goalkeeper Jason Stenta posted a third-straight shutout despite not making a single save. Stenta’s surprising play this season has been one of the decisive factors in the Bearcats’ success. He attributes his confidence to head coach Paul Marco.

“He’s always been there talking to me on the side, pushing me, telling me ‘you can do it, that’s why you’re there,’” Stenta said.

After losing several key players to graduation and injury, Marco turned a team that was picked to finish fourth in the conference into a first place team; BU’s performance this season puts him in strong contention for America East coach of the year. It is not a sure thing, though, as he will have competition from New Hampshire’s Rob Thompson, whose team finished in third place after a seventh-place prediction in the preseason coaches’ poll.

Despite needing a victory to win the title, Vermont had trouble attacking the Bearcat defense, shooting 10 times to Binghamton’s 13.

“We didn’t sit back and play defense,” said senior midfielder Ibrahim Yusuf. “We kept on attacking, and they got tired. I thought they’d be attacking us a little bit more.”

“You can’t attack us if we don’t let you have the ball,” Arnault echoed. “We held the ball well. They did what they could.”

The man of the match may have been junior midfielder Matt Narode, who was called on by Marco to run the offense.

“He dictated the rhythm of the game for us, which we asked him to do, and he did it brilliantly,” Marco said. “It was like he was conducting an orchestra. He was dangerous when he wanted to be, and he was simple when he needed to be.”

Another standout on this team has been senior forward Joey Neilson, whose timing in breaking down the defense was surpassed only by the support he had from his very own cheering section. A group of Binghamton athletes, including green-body-paint-clad men’s lacrosse players and the men’s basketball team’s new guard, Rich Forbes, raucously cheered the forward on from the sideline.

“Joey Neilson was on today,” Marco said. “We need to get the Joey Neilson fan club at every game. Hopefully we get a great crowd at the semifinal.”

Junior back Adam Chavez didn’t play because he has accumulated four cards in conference play. A fifth card would have forced him to sit out the semifinal match. Binghamton has 10 days of rest until the semifinals, and will finally be able to start senior captain Kyle Antos if his recovery continues to go smoothly. Sophomore Cody Germain may also be healthy enough to play in the tournament.

After the game, the Bearcats bombarded their coach with a water cooler shower.

“I was looking around for it,” Marco laughed.