The Binghamton University men’s soccer team is undefeated and the Bucknell men’s soccer team is winless, but in the Bearcats’ preparation for today’s 4 p.m. match between the two in Lewisburg, Pa., the records are meaningless.

‘They’re the Patriot League champions, so they’re going to be a very good team,’ said BU coach Paul Marco of Bucknell. ‘They’re [consistently] in the NCAA tournament and they’re a team that is very competitive. And there’s not one bad player or a weakness you’re looking for when you’re watching them.’

The Bearcats have won their first four games of the season, a feat they last accomplished two decades ago, but are 0-3-1 against Bucknell all-time.

Though the Bisons (0-1-2) have yet to win a game, they have not exactly been playing slouches: they lost to then-No. 14 Northwestern in overtime, 2-1, in its second game of the season. Bucknell tied with Northern Illinois 1-1 in its first game, and tied with Duquesne 0-0 in its third game.

‘I don’t think anything’s going wrong,’ said Bucknell coach Brendan Nash. ‘We planned on playing some top-25 teams early in the schedule. We’re not winning the games but we’re competing in the games.’

Midfielders Justin Wolf, a senior, and Conor O’Brien, a sophomore, lead the Bisons, though neither have a goal: the Bisons have scored just twice on the season.

Binghamton’s defense might feast on Bucknell’s struggling offense, as the Bearcats have yet to allow a goal. But Binghamton’s offense has been able to score just one goal in each of its four games, and four goals in four games is hardly world-beating.

‘We have a couple matchups that I think are going to be quite good,’ Marco said. ‘They’re going to have a hard time solving a couple of our players. The game plan’s ready: we are going to have to execute and not turn the ball over in bad areas because they’ll punish us for those.’

Nash said the Bisons will try to stick to the ground game because of the Bearcats’ superior ability in the air.

‘Just from playing Binghamton over the years and knowing coach Marco, we pretty much know the system is going to be as it has been year in and year out,’ Nash said. ‘We know they’re going to be very sound defensively. We both play a 4-2-2, and we rely on skill and quickness.’

A win for the Bearcats could garner them national recognition. Binghamton has received votes in the College Soccer News Top 30 National Poll for the first two weeks this season, but has yet to be ranked.

But the Bearcats have taken non-conference play seriously, said goalie Jason Stenta, with the ultimate goal of returning to the NCAA tournament in mind. The Bearcats can do that two ways: via an America East Conference championship or an at-large bid, earned with a strong overall record.

‘If you’re asking our players or the coaching staff, every game is important,’ Marco said. ‘We don’t value one game over the other. I don’t put more time into our NCAA match than I put into our Radford match ‘ I put in the same amount of time and energy. I’m going to be relentless in finding out everything I can about our opponent, and I’m going to prepare my guys to the best of my abilities for the match.’