After a tie on Wednesday night, the Binghamton University men’s soccer team (1-2-2) achieved its first win of the season on Saturday against Central Connecticut State University (2-2-0). Despite going scoreless for the first 73 minutes, the Bearcats scored their first home goal of the year to shut out CCSU.

CCSU came out with a bang, with two shots and a corner in the first three minutes of play. Binghamton answered quickly, with a shot from senior forward Marcus Nahim. Both teams continued with strong defensive play until CCSU got the first yellow card in the 14th minute. Binghamton then earned their first corner kick of the game after extended offensive pressure. However, they remained scoreless despite some close chances and a second shot on goal from Nahim.

Binghamton continued to work offensively, gaining two more shots on goal and drawing a second yellow card against CCSU in the 28th minute. After attacks from both teams, Binghamton was handed their own yellow card five minutes later.

In the 37th minute of the game, Binghamton took a second corner kick, but the deflection went wide of the goal. After a final shot from senior forward Anthony Randazzo, the game remained 0-0 going into halftime.

The second half opened with CCSU on the offensive, taking the first shot just a minute in. After giving up five shots in the first 20 minutes of the half with no reward for their own offensive attempts, Binghamton got their first shot of the half off a header from freshman midfielder Anninos Nicolaou at 66 minutes.

Binghamton continued with a strong attack, with several shot attempts almost giving them the lead. Then, after almost 74 minutes of play, senior back Saar Almoznino tapped in a header from Randazzo, giving Binghamton the 1-0 lead.

“That play was something we worked on the whole spring,” Almoznino said after the game.”We practiced it for a few months and even though we were tired at the end of the match tonight, our hard work and preparation paid off.”

For the remainder of the game, Binghamton held strong defensively, with steadfast and clear form.

Senior goalkeeper Natan Jemaneh Admassu made a major save following two saves to keep Binghamton ahead in the last minutes of play. Binghamton dominated possession but took fewer shots — eight to CCSU’s 13.

The win was not only the first win of the season, but the first under interim head coach Tommy Moon, who was named to the position in March of this year, after it was announced that previous coach Paul Marco would not be returning after 24 years with the program.

The Bearcats will look to carry this momentum into the next game against Le Moyne at 6:07 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, hosted at the Bearcats Sports Complex.