After ending its nonconference slate of play with a draw against Bucknell, the Binghamton men’s soccer team got off to a hot start in its return to America East (AE) play with a 2-1 win at UNH. The Wildcats took an early lead in the first half, but Binghamton responded within five minutes and cemented a tie that would hold into halftime. Halfway through the second period of play BU found the game-winning score and held on until the final horn blew for its first victory at New Hampshire since 2015.

“I think the difference in the game was we were extremely competitive in all facets of the game,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “We were competitive in their box, that’s how we scored goals, we were competitive in our own box, that’s how we negated their opportunities. We won our duels both attacking and defending.”

Binghamton (7-6-2, 1-3 AE) got the ball rolling in the fifth minute of play when sophomore forward/midfielder Marcus Nahim registered the match’s first shot on goal. UNH (3-3-5, 1-1-1 AE) saw its first chance just three minutes later when it rattled off a shot that graduate student goalkeeper Dylan McDermott easily kept out of the net. The Wildcats continued offensively, getting off two unsuccessful strikes, before they broke through BU’s back line in their third attempt, to take a lead in the 26th minute.

“We started OK,” Marco said. “I thought we were a little nervous. It’s UNH — we haven’t won there in a while, and a couple of our younger guys were a little nervous.”

In the 29th minute, BU was awarded a throw-in deep in UNH’s territory and Nahim launched the ball into the box where graduate student midfielder Tom Cohen controlled it and took a shot from within the goal area. UNH was able to get gloves on the strike, but junior back Luke Yates buried it into the back of the net for his third score of the season. The Bearcats held UNH to only two off-target shots for the remainder of the period, assisted by two offsides calls against the Wildcats in the final two minutes of play as the foes went into the half tied at 1-1.

“[Set pieces are] something we had talked about,” Marco said. “I thought we were quite good. I would have liked to get more corners … but on set pieces attacking and defending, we were excellent.”

UNH opened the second half of play eager to snatch a lead by rebounding from a run in the 50th minute being called offsides by attempting two consecutive shots, neither of which were on target. Following a yellow card against redshirt sophomore midfielder Gaven Egan, UNH went on an offensive tear as it attempted five unanswered shots in the following eight minutes. Stout defending from Binghamton’s back-line and McDermott, however, kept them out of the net.

“We decided our game plan was to try to negate them centrally,” Marco said. “[UNH] helped us by trying to go wide, they are excellent on the flank so we really wanted to try to keep the ball to one side. Once we encouraged them to go wide, we could then keep the ball on that side of the field.”

Binghamton’s offense soon heated up, and Yates, gunning for the brace, attempted his third shot in the 67th minute. Working efficiently with the chances created, Nahim crossed in a ball to the box that redshirt sophomore back Cailen Thomas sank, lighting up the scoreboard. Eager to hold on to its 2-1 lead, Binghamton shifted into a more defensively-minded formation, holding UNH to just two shots over the final 32 minutes of play while attempting two of their own.

“I think our guys have done a good job of figuring that out — ‘when should I have a go at the goal’ and ‘when should I maybe make one more pass or run with the ball,’” Marco said.

BU will look to stay in the AE playoff hunt on Saturday, Oct. 19 as it continues conference play at UMass Lowell. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.