After settling for a 1-1 tie last week against NJIT, the Binghamton men’s soccer team secured its first America East (AE) conference win on Saturday night with a 3-1 victory at Albany. Despite the heavy rain and a sluggish first half that ended with a 1-1 deadlock, the Bearcats rallied in the second half to score two more goals — in a four-minute span — winning in Albany for the first time since 2015.

“What a wonderful job by the guys to come back from 1-0 down to win 3-1,” said Binghamton head coach Paul Marco. “What a competitive, disciplined performance we got from the guys tonight.”

Albany’s (4-7-1, 0-2-1 AE) offense was relentless in its attack in the first half, controlling possession for almost the entirety of the period. The Bearcats’ (3-6-2, 1-0-2 AE) defense was able to diffuse most of the Great Danes’ dangerous chances, keeping Albany to the outside, where quality chances were hard to come by. BU thought it had got on the board with a goal in the 29th minute by way of a free kick, but it was called back due to an offsides call.

The match continued with Albany constantly pressing and Binghamton responding on defense while simultaneously looking for an opening. The Bearcats seemed to have another opportunity in the 30th minute, driving up the field and being awarded a throw-in close to the Albany goal. However, the Great Danes managed to gain possession and catch up to the Bearcats — further up the field. Albany was able to drive down the field and create a two-on-one opportunity, putting the ball in the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead.

“We train often about stopping counter-attacks off set pieces,” Marco said. “And for us to give up the first goal that way was extremely disappointing. There’s a couple of guys who are responsible for negating counter-attacks and we just didn’t do a good enough job. Give credit to Albany. They did really well in that moment.”

Despite the goal, Binghamton continued to try to get on the board while defusing multiple chances from Albany. Eventually, the Bearcats were rewarded for their efforts at the end of the first half. In the 40th minute, BU began to apply more pressure on Albany’s defense. Not long after, the Great Danes made an error that resulted in an own goal, allowing Binghamton to tie the score at one going into halftime.

The Bearcats built on the momentum they gained at the end of the first, launching multiple attacks toward Albanys’ goal. After several failed chances, BU broke through in the 68th minute. A Binghamton throw-in was directed into the box, where it deflected off an Albany player to freshman forward Anthony Randazzo. Randazzo was then able to gain possession and put the ball past the Albany keeper for his first collegiate goal, giving the Bearcats a 2-1 advantage.

“The message at half-time was to keep our foot on the gas and continue to not let the game settle in, continue to be forceful with the ball, continue to be forceful without the ball and then to make sure we had good layers of players who win first and second balls,” Marco said. “I thought the guys were terrific at it tonight.”

The Bearcats struck again four minutes later. With another throw-in opportunity, close to the Albany net, graduate student back Michael Bush launched a ball toward the head of sophomore midfielder Calvin Moe, who headed it into the net to record his first goal of the season, giving Binghamton a 3-1 lead. The BU defense continued to keep Albany at bay, turning away several Albany attacks in the last 10 minutes of the game to secure the 3-1 victory.

“I thought our guys were very good individually, whether it was in the air or on the ground,” Marco said. “And then collectively our back four with our two holding midfielders were very, very good today. They were fantastic.”

Binghamton will return home to take on Vermont in its homecoming match on Saturday, Oct. 14. Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.