When the Binghamton men’s soccer team began the season with a 1-4-2 record, with key players sidelined by injuries, few would have believed that the Bearcats would be near the top of the standings in the America East halfway through conference play.

But they are.

After blanking Hartford (3-4-4, 1-2-0 AE) 1-0 on Wednesday at the West Gym Field, Binghamton (5-6-3, 3-1-0 AE) moved to second place in the conference and now has a clear path to the six-team America East tournament.

Having endured a rainy first half, the Bearcats made their move in the heart of the downpour — and did so with excellent passing. Just moments before a 45-minute rain delay was called, junior back Adam Chavez made a tackle on the Binghamton side and carried the ball all the way to the top of the opposing box, where he then played it wide to freshman midfielder Kyle Kucharski. Kucharski juked to center and found senior midfielder Bryan Arnault wide, who kicked a brilliant cross to senior forward Peter Sgueglia, setting up a header in front of the goal.

“I just looked up and put the ball into the box, and Pete found the ball and finished amazingly,” Arnault said.

“It was a fantastic goal,” added head coach Paul Marco. “We had some good ball movement.”

Sgueglia credited Chavez’s defensive play and Arnault’s cross for the goal.

After the rain delay, Hartford aggressively attacked and outshot Binghamton, but sensational freshman goalie Jason Stenta made four saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season and his second in a row. With 15 minutes remaining, the 6-foot-3 goalkeeper deflected Kevin Candito’s close range shot over the crossbar to preserve the win.

Stenta now has a 5-3-2 record and .86 goals against average as a starter. Credit the West Gym pitch, too — the Bearcats are undefeated in their last nine home games. The Binghamton women’s team has similarly fared well, also remaining undefeated in its last nine home games.

The team’s success is largely due to the players’ ability to compensate for the injuries to Cody Germain and Kyle Antos, among others. Credit also belongs to Marco, who has found the appropriate players to fill the vacancies.

“I think everybody stepped up a little bit, but Adam Chavez has moved from the back to the front and now back to the back, so he’s had to play a significant role in what we’re doing,” Marco said. “Guys like Liam Carson, Mark Wood and Ibrahim Yusuf, those guys have really started to play well for us these past few games.”

Binghamton is tied for second place in the America East with Albany, while Vermont leads the pack at 3-0-1. The Bearcats will play both teams later in the season.

“I think that we’re in pretty good position right now,” Marco said. “Our goal is to certainly get back to the America East tournament. We’re pretty successful in the tournament, so if we can get back to the tournament, there’s no reason to think we can’t get to the championship game and perhaps even win the championship again. I believe in our team, and if we get some injured players back, things may fall our way.”

With their strong AE play thus far, the Bearcats are exuding the confidence of a true contender.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t win the conference this year,” Sgueglia said.

Binghamton has a week of rest before heading to UMBC next Wednesday.