WASHINGTON D.C. – Binghamton (1-0-1) played to a 0-0 tie against George Washington (1-0-1) in a non-conference men's soccer game on Monday afternoon at the GW Soccer Facility. In the process, the Bearcats earned their first shutout of the season against a Colonial Squad that won the 2015 Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title.
In an evenly played match, the Colonials finished with a 12-10 shot advantage. In the two 10-minute overtime sessions, however, Binghamton outshot the host team 4-2.
"I thought our guys were great today," head coach
Paul Marco said. "George Washington is a very good team and beat a tough William & Mary team on the road Friday night. We had our chances to score and while we are disappointed not to have gotten the win, we are satisfied with the tie."
Redshirt freshman
Alejandro Cubillo finished with a pair of saves to record the first solo shutout on his career. He was aided by the backline of senior
Zach Galluzzo, redshirt junior
Charlie Novoth, sophomore
Kevin Flesch and redshirt freshman
Stephen McKenna. Sophomore back
Adam Blackwell also logged significant minutes on defense.
As a unit, the Bearcat defense now has a goals against average (GAA) of just 0.45 through the first two games this year. In the process, it has gone 184 minutes without surrendering a goal.
Binghamton was on top of the match for most of the first half, forcing Colonial goalkeeper Thor Arne Hofs to make a pair of saves during that stretch. Cubillo, meanwhile, was called upon to make a key save with just 31 seconds left before halftime.
George Washington controlled play during the second half, outshooting Binghamton 7-2 in the process. The Colonials' final shot, which was high, came with only 13 seconds left in regulation.
Both team had to battle the heat as the temperature on the field soared into the upper 90s.
"We had to use everyone on the bench," Marco said "A lot of guys on both teams had to come out of the game because it was so hot."
Up next for Binghamton is a Friday afternoon match at Siena, starting at 4:30 p.m.
NOTES: Cubillo is the first Binghamton freshman goalkeeper to record a solo shutout since Stefano Frantelizzi blanked Adelphi 3-0 on Sept. 22, 2012 … the last time the Bearcats were unbeaten through two matches was in 2009. They went 2-0-0 to start the year with wins over Syracuse (3-2) and Colgate (1-0 in OT). Both victories were at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
