BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Binghamton men's soccer tied No. 17 Vermont 1-1 Tuesday at Virtue Field. Thanks to New Hampshire's 4-0 win over UMass Lowell that evening, Binghamton punched its ticket to the America East tournament for the third year in a row.
The Bearcats came within just over two minutes of defeating the Catamounts in what would have been the program's second win in its history against a top 20 team.
Marcus Nahim scored his first goal of the season early in the opening half, while
Dylan McDermott made six saves in net.
"I thought our guys were outstanding," said Binghamton Men's Soccer Head Coach
Paul Marco. "We were great in all areas of the game. We had to manage some minutes. I thought we were terrific. I liked how the guys came off the bench and performed. We weathered the storm, and Dylan was outstanding."
Tuesday's match is also the seventh time in program history that Binghamton has tied a nationally-ranked opponent. The last instance occurred on Sept. 23, 2023, when the Bearcats played No. 18 New Hampshire to a scoreless draw.
Binghamton spent the early part of the first half defending Vermont's attack. About 15 minutes into the opening frame, as Binghamton entered its offensive zone,
Alex Balkey crossed the ball into the box. The pass found
Cailen Thomas, who was able to kick the ball to Nahim in the middle of the box. Nahim then fired in his second goal of his career to put the Bearcats ahead 1-0 14:46 into the match.
Binghamton's defense would stop several Vermont scoring chances throughout the remainder of the match. McDermott made five of his saves in the second half, including multiple diving stops. Arguably his most notable save came with just over 30 minutes remaining in regulation. Vermont's Yaniv Bazini headed a cross in the box towards the net, where McDermott leaped towards his right to make the save.
Even after Balkey was sent off the pitch with his second yellow card with just over 12 minutes remaining in regulation, Binghamton's defense held together despite being down a player. The Catamounts would ultimately tie the match, however. At 87:42, not long after a corner, Mike Bleeker was able to get the ball in the box and kick it into the net for the game-tying goal. Both teams would trade possessions in the final couple of minutes before the clock hit zero, making the tie official.
Binghamton enters the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed. For their match in the Quarterfinals, the Bearcats will play at No. 3 UMBC on Saturday at 7 p.m.
