Coming off a two-game home stand, the Binghamton men’s soccer team earned a 2-0 win against Canisius on Wednesday evening in Buffalo, New York. After a scoreless first half, BU took control in the second, scoring two goals within a span of 49 seconds, as its defensive effort, led by graduate student goalkeeper Dylan McDermott, secured the Bearcats’ second victory of the year.

“I thought we were pretty good in the first half, and I thought we were outstanding in the second half,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “We had a few things that we wanted to try to accomplish in the game. Obviously, the outcome is one thing, but we want to try to put the ball in their box a little bit more.”

Binghamton’s (2-4-0) defense got to work early when the Golden Griffins (1-4-1) began their attack two minutes in, after getting off the first shot of the game. The Bearcats responded by peppering Canisius’ goal with five shots of their own in the span of just 10 minutes. Two of those attempts made it onto the net but were saved by Golden Griffins’ keeper.

“I thought the guys were really relentless,” Marco said. “I thought they responded quite well to anything that you know kind of went wrong in the game.”

The Bearcats managed to get off a total of nine shots in the first half in comparison to Canisius’ four. Three of the nine were directed to the net but were saved by the Golden Griffins’ keeper. The BU defense was able to prevent the Golden Griffins from not only scoring, but from attempting any shots on goal in the first half. Going into halftime, the game remained scoreless at 0-0.

As BU and Canisius entered the second half, both teams looked to get onto the board. The half began with a back-and-forth nature, as each team had its opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net. Eventually, Binghamton struck first, when graduate student back Devin Heanue found the back of the net from the top of the box to put the Bearcats up 1-0.

“I thought the guys’ effort was really good today,” Marco said. “We’re asking them for even more than what they’re giving right now because I know that they just don’t realize they can go to another couple of levels. Once we’ve kind of figured that piece out [and the] guys get a little more fit I think we’ll have even more frequency of relentless attacks, and you know ruthless in the box.”

After scoring the first goal of the match, BU increased its lead 49 seconds later with another score. In the 65th minute, freshman forward Marcus Nahim got off a shot in the box that deflected off the Canisius goalkeeper. Then, the ball bounced directly back to Nahim as he attempted another shot, which found the back of the net, for his first collegiate goal, to give Binghamton a 2-0 lead. BU finished the half with 13 shots total, with six on goal.

“[Nahim] gets his first collegiate goal, [and junior back Charlie Kaldor] plays the ball across to get a great assist,” Marco said. “I thought we had a lot of good things happening in the game from a lot of different faces including some new faces.”

The Bearcats’ defense, meanwhile, held the Golden Griffins to just two shots by the end of the half, one of which was saved by McDermott. When time elapsed, the Bearcats found themselves on top 2-0, as they earned their second win, along with their first shutout of the year.

“It feels great to have the win, and it feels just as good that we get a shutout,” Marco said. “We haven’t had a clean sheet and I thought our guys did pretty well because Canisius can score goals. I mean they’re averaging a lot of goals a game so for us to come here at their place and get a shutout, that was great.”

BU is set to return home to take on St. Peter’s on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.