HAMILTON, N.Y. – Freshman back Chris Stamper converted a free kick in the 78th minute, lifting Binghamton (2-0-0) to a 2-1 win at defending Patriot League champion Colgate (0-2-0) on Monday night at Raider Stadium. With the victory, the Bearcats are off to their best start since 2009.

Stamper, who is the fourth Binghamton newcomer to score a goal this season, fired his free kick into the center of the goal.

For the second straight game, the Bearcats scored in the opening minutes. Freshman midfielder Noah Luescher finished off a free kick by junior back Kevin Flesch in just the seventh minute. Luescher now has a team-best two goals and five total points so far this season.

Colgate struck back in the 36th minute when Karl Brown scored on a header. The assists were credited to Aram Ouiligan and Jared Stroud.

"We had a very young team on the field tonight because we were missing some guys (with injuries)," head coach Paul Marco said. We won with our will tonight even more than our talent. Colgate is a very good team and we delighted to be going home with the win."

In goal, sophomore Alejandro Cubillo finished the game with a season-high nine saves. He made a pair of stops off of headers in the final three minutes to preserve the victory.

The final shot count was 25-10 Colgate.

In two matches so far this season, the Bearcats have outscored their opposition 6-1. 

"Our guys' confidence in the box is very high right now," Marco said. "They are working well together and finishing off their scoring chances."

Binghamton travels to the James Madison Tournament this weekend, which begins with a 7:30 p.m. match on Friday against the host Dukes.