As the final whistle sounded in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday night, history had repeated itself for the Binghamton men’s soccer team as it was able to knock off UMBC for the second straight year — in a 1-0 match — to advance to America East (AE) semifinals. The game was tight for the majority of the duration, but a strong defensive effort and a late goal from BU secured a 1-0 win for the Bearcats.

“I thought the first half was our best performance for 45 minutes all year,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “I thought the guys were outstanding.”

Binghamton (5-9-3, 3-2-3 AE) and the Retrievers (7-4-5, 3-2-3 AE) opened up the match in a deadlock. Each side had their chances in the first 10 minutes, but neither were able to capitalize. BU was able to gain an edge, having more possession and the closest chance at a goal during the early period of the match. In the eighth minute, the Bearcats found themselves in a footrace with the UMBC goalkeeper for a ball loose in UMBC’s defensive end. Ultimately, the UMBC goalkeeper would get to the ball first and the match would remain scoreless.

The Retrievers would have their own chance at BU’s graduate student goalkeeper Dylan McDermott in the 12th minute. McDermott came out of his box to attempt to get a Retriever pass out of danger, narrowly avoiding a charging UMBC forward to clear the ball away. UMBC would build on its momentum in the middle of the half, maintaining possession near Binghamton’s goal and having several chances to get on the board.

“I think both of our goalkeepers have been really good in the last three to four weeks,” Marco said. “They just have been working really hard. Today’s performance was a culmination of the hard work those two guys have been putting in.”

The Bearcats regained some of their lost momentum toward the end of the half, but their efforts produced little result, as the halftime whistle sounded with the score tied at zero. Team defense was the story of the first half for both sides as both Binghamton and UMBC’s defensive fronts held strong, limiting opposing chances and keeping their respective teams in the match.

The second half would start similarly to the first, with both teams playing strong defense, being locked in a battle for possession. UMBC would get their best chance yet in the 48th minute when a Retriever forward brought the ball into Binghamton’s penalty box, drawing a foul and earning a penalty shot. Luckily for the Bearcats, McDermott made a save to keep the ball out of the back of the net, keeping UMBC off the board.

The Retrievers continued to apply pressure for much of the rest of the half while BU’s efforts to get on the board persisted. In the 78th minute, the Bearcats were able to finally cash in. Redshirt senior midfielder Anthony Lazaridis brought the ball into UMBC’s half of the field and shot a long pass through multiple Retriever defenders and junior midfielder Billy Clark, which made its way to senior midfielder Markos Touroukis. Touroukis was able to gain possession and put a shot on the net, sending it past the keeper to put the Bearcats up 1-0.

“The best part of the goal outside of the finish is the dummy that [Clark] does,” Marco said. “The ball is played to [Clark], and he lets it run through to [Touroukis] and he hits it first time. It was a great goal. It was one of the best goals we’ve scored all year. The awareness [Clark] had to let the ball run past him was outstanding. He should get the assist just as well as [Lazaridis]. I’m just really proud of the guys.”

UMBC lost most of their remaining momentum after the Binghamton goal, managing only sparse chances going into the final minute. UMBC fought to the end, though, nearly scoring twice in the final 10 seconds off of a last-minute corner kick. Ultimately, the Bearcats were able to keep the ball out of the back of their net to earn a 1-0 victory and punch their ticket to the next round of the AE tournament.

“When we played Bryant the first time and got beat really badly we didn’t have some of our players who are currently playing, and we weren’t playing with the swagger we are right now,” Marco said. “Bryant has one loss on the season. They’re a great team, [so] we’ll have to be on our game for 90 minutes. I can’t wait to take that bus ride there. This team is ready to play.”

Binghamton is set to play No. 2 Bryant in an AE semi-final matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Beirne Stadium in Smithfield, Rhode Island.