Men's Soccer Seals the Deal in 3-1 Win at Binghamton, Takes First Program America East Regular Season Title and No. 1 Seed

BOX SCORE | AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

VESTAL, N.Y.- University at Albany men's soccer (10-7-1, 5-2 AE) took care of business on Wednesday night, winning 3-1 at Binghamton (8-7-2, 3-3-1 AE) to earn the program's first America East regular season crown and No. 1 seed for the upcoming tournament. The Great Danes host the winner of the Saturday 4/5 match-up on Long Island between No. 4 Stony Brook and No. 5 Binghamton on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7:00pm.  

“I'm very proud of these guys,” said head coach Trevor Gorman. “We have the benefit of the bye, but it's just a step on the journey because we want to be the team that's still number one at the end of the tournament. We know every team in this league is very good, so we need to make the advantage count.”

The first 15 minutes saw mostly back-and-forth action in the midfield. Jake Barros squeezed through the Dane back line to fire a shot low, but his attempt was off-target.

Gorman's squad kept on top of the battle of 50-50 balls, earning two corner kicks early on; but the Purple & Gold continued to have its passes interrupted or placed just out of reach.

Just as the Danes started getting comfortable, Binghamton played a ball deep into the UAlbany 18-yard box in the 17th minute. A Bearcat cut across the six to test Danny Vitiello, but the redshirt freshman came off his line to make the save.

Barros again saw the light in the 20th minute, as a shot to the upper right required a diving save from the Binghamton keeper. The ensuring corner kick came up empty-handed.

In the 30th minute, Afonso Pinheiro was left untouched down the right side. The sophomore hooked through from 25 yards out on a pass from Moosah Khanat. Pinheiro beat the keeper one-on-one to score his 11th goal of the year on a breakaway look. His 41st career point with the goal, he became the UAlbany Division I program leader in career points and goals (18).

The Bearcats came charging back after a tough foul call just outside the box. The Danes set up a wall just above the six-yard box, and a low-swinging shot got a diving save out wide from Vitiello.

The teams ended the first half evenly matched in shots and corner kicks. Binghamton out-shot UAlbany 5-4, while the Bearcats earned more corners, 3-2.

UAlbany wasted no time to open the second half, as a turnover deep in Bearcat territory fell to Andres Sandoval. The midfielder caught Philip Persson curling left, and the senior co-captain fired from long range. His shot from 25 yards out sailed past Binghamton's keeper into the upper right corner for a 2-0 UAlbany lead in the 49th minute.

As the teams began to fatigue, sloppy passes and fouls became the trend mid-way through the second half. Both squads found room to move downfield, but only two shots were attempted.

With less than 12 minutes to play, the Bearcats streamed downfield on the counterattack. An open right side appeared to have more space than defender Jeff Medina allowed, as the redshirt sophomore stepped in to block a shot and stop the run.

The Danes put the game out of reach with eight minutes to go. Pinheiro worked his way towards the end line, forcing the Binghamton keeper out of the net. After an initial save, Leo Melgar approached the rebound at the 18-yard box and shot into the lower left corner.

UAlbany posted its fifth consecutive win in league play to garner the program's first America East No. 1 seed and regular season crown. Danny Vitiello made three saves to take the win between the pipes.

The 2015 men's soccer team recorded the first 10-win regular season campaign since 2008. The Danes have generated the second-most offense of any Great Danes soccer team in the Division I era, scoring six goals in their last two games. The Danes have scored as many goals in two games as they allowed in the entire 2015 America East regular season slate.

Next up, UAlbany men's soccer meets the winner of the Stony Brook-Binghamton match-up on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7:00pm. The first 100 students will receive free admission to the game at Casey Stadium with SUNY ID.