The cold may have hit Binghamton this past weekend for the first time this fall, but on Long Island, the BU men’s soccer team stayed hot on the field, working relentlessly to score a goal in its America East (AE) season debut against Stony Brook on Saturday. After 110 minutes of play, the match ultimately concluded in a tie at 0-0.
The Bearcats (3-5-2, 0-0-1 AE) have earned a win in only one of their past seven nonconference games. Going into this weekend, the team was looking for a victory to start off conference play strongly, but instead ended up with a draw.
“I thought our guys played very well in the game, actually, we started the match very well, we were very combative, energized,” said BU head coach Paul Marco. “The guys worked very hard. The disappointing thing is that we didn’t get a goal, but I thought our backs were terrific in the game, goalkeeping was very good. Even in the attack, I thought our guys were very good, we were just a little unfortunate to not get a goal against a very good Stony Brook team.”
Binghamton performed well on both sides during the first period of the match, posting six shots on goal, three of which were courtesy of freshman midfielder Noah Luescher on the offensive side. Defensively, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Chris Shutler logged five saves on seven shots on goal from the Seawolves (5-2-3, 0-0-1 AE).
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Alejandro Cubillo took the net at the start of the second half and managed to record four saves in 65 minutes. Luescher continued his attempts to net a goal as well, putting up another two shots on goal for the team, but the score remained at 0-0.
“I thought the goalkeepers both played well,” Marco said. “They played their part in the game. There were some very good saves by both of them.”
The match went into two periods of overtime to allow the teams an additional chance at victory, but neither the Bearcats nor the Seawolves were willing to cede a goal. Cubillo’s two saves in the two 10-minute periods helped maintain the score at 0-0, and neither team secured a win.
“You realize in overtime you can win it in a moment or drop the game in a moment,” Marco said. “It’s sudden victory or sudden death. So it’s just the mindset is you’re cautious. You don’t want to give them anything — you don’t want to give them a chance and you want to try and create your own opportunities. I thought that we did quite well in overtime.”
This is the second season in a row that the Bearcats and Seawolves have ended their annual match with no points on the board. Even though Stony Brook had the advantage in shots (23-14), BU’s defense stood strong with nine combined saves. Next week, the Bearcats will try again to record their first conference win against UMBC in their annual Homecoming Weekend game.
Binghamton will take on UMBC this Saturday evening. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.