LOWELL, Mass. – Junior forward Ethan Homler converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute, lifting Binghamton (7-2-0, 2-0-0 AE) to a 1-0 win at UMass Lowell (2-7-1, 1-2-0 AE) in an America East men's soccer game on Saturday night at Cushing Field. The victory is the third straight shutout win for the Bearcats who remain off to their best start since 2007.

Binghamton also moves to 2-0-0 in conference play for the first time since 2018. The Bearcats, who are currently ranked sixth in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Northeast Region Poll, were picked last out of nine teams in this year's America East Preseason Poll.

Homler, who now has a team-best five goals and 11 total points so far this season, drew a foul inside the box to set up the penalty kick. He then lifted it over the River Hawk goalkeeper for his conference-best fourth game-winning goal of the year.

Just 10 minutes after Homler's goal, redshirt junior goalkeeper P.J. Parker was called upon to make perhaps the Bearcats' biggest save of the season. The River Hawks had a free kick just outside of the box and the shot was redirected towards the upper right corner of the net. Parker, however, lunged high enough to knock the ball out of the way and preserve his third straight solo shutout.

That would be the River Hawks only shot on goal during the match as the Bearcat backline of Kosta Nika, William Noecker, Michael Bush and Devin Heanue paced the defense to its fourth shutout of the year.

"I thought we played hard and good against a team that is much better than their record," head coach Paul Marco said. "Ethan was very good at both setting up the penalty kick and making it, our holding players were great and P.J. made an unbelievable save. This group is really coming together."

The River Hawks finished with a 10-9 overall shot advantage while the Bearcats had a 3-1 edge in shots on goal.

The three straight shutouts represent the most for Binghamton since it shut out its first five opponents of the 2007 season.

Binghamton returns home for a non-conference game on Tuesday against Bucknell at 7 p.m.