VESTAL, N.Y. – Junior forward Oliver Svalander scored in the 56th minute, lifting Binghamton (6-2-0, 1-0-0 AE) to a 1-0 win over Stony Brook (5-3-0, 1-1-0 AE) in an America East men's soccer game on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,605 fans at the Bearcats Sports Complex on Family Weekend. With the victory, the Bearcats are now off to their best start since 2007.

The Bearcats recorded their second straight shutout victory and improved to a perfect 2-0-0 at home. The Seawolves, meanwhile, had come into the game ranked third in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Northeast Region Poll and were receiving votes in the College Soccer News Top 30 national poll.

Svalander was in the right place at the right time to net his third goal of the season. The Bearcats got the ball into the box when an initial shot by redshirt sophomore forward Rory Anderson deflected off a Seawolf defender. Svalander was stationed to the right of the goal and redirected it into the net.

On defense, redshirt junior goalkeeper P.J. Parker made a pair of saves to record his second consecutive solo shutout. His final save came from close range in the 70th minute.

With the exception of Svalander's goal, play was even during the match. The shots were even at 8-8 and while the Bearcats had a 3-2 edge in shots on goal, the saves were even at 2-2.

"What a tight, terrific game to watch if you were a fan," head coach Paul Marco said. "Both teams were pretty defensive minded at first and then things started to open up in the second half. I thought we played pretty well today. I thought our collective effort was great and that we were pretty useful with the ball."

In addition to Parker, the Bearcat defense was spearheaded by junior backs Michael Bush and Devin Heanue, senior Kosta Nika and sophomore William Noecker. Redshirt junior midfielder Carter Beaulieu also played a pivotal role at the defensive midfield position.

The crowd of 2,605 represents the second-largest crowd in the 15-year history of the Bearcats Sports Complex. It was topped only by the 3,265 fans that watched the Bearcats defeat then No. 23 New Hampshire on Sept. 29, 2018.

Binghamton continues conference play next Saturday at UMass Lowell with a 7 p.m. match.

NOTE: The 2007 team also started off the season 6-2-0 ... in three matches this season, Parker is a perfect 3-0-0 and has only surrendered one goal on a penalty kick.