ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer program returns to action with a trip to Binghamton.
 
Game Info
Saturday, October 8 at Binghamton (6:00 pm)
Live Stats | ESPN3
 
Leading the Pack

• UAlbany is 1-5-0 on the road this season; Binghamton is 1-2-2 at home
• UAlbany has won two-straight, outscoring opponents 4-0 overall
• UAlbany ranks sixth and seventh in the America East in scoring offense and scoring defense, respectively; Binghamton ranks fifth in both categories
• Shafique Wilson ranks second in the America East in save percentage, and third in goals-against average and saves per game
• UAlbany is 12-11-3 against Binghamton since the 2000 season

Scouting Binghamton
The Bearcats are 2-6-3 overall and still seek their first conference victory, sitting 0-1-1 with one point after two games to start their America East season.  The Bearcats went 7-9-1 in 2021, and have gone unbeaten in their last three, 2-0-1.  Since starting the season 0-4-0, Binghamton has gone 2-2-3.  Four Bearcats have scored two or more goals this season, led by Markos Touroukis' three.  UAlbany has won eight of the last 11 games in the series.
 
Last Time vs. Binghamton
October 28, 2021 | UAlbany punched its ticket to the 2021 America East Tournament with a victory over Binghamton on Senior Night.  The first half went by without a score, despite a dangerous opportunity from the Great Danes that saw three of their shots blocked in the Binghamton box in five seconds.  Early in the second half, however, Pantelis Panteli served in free kick to the middle of the Binghamton box, flicked by Guillermo Mijancos to Alex Bourgeois for the score.  The Great Danes' defense only allowed Binghamton two shots after halftime and closed the game with the 1-0 victory.
 
Last Time Out
UAlbany hosted America East newcomer Bryant for the first time as conference opponents on the team's 2022 Alumni night where they honored 19 former Great Danes on the field at halftime.  UAlbany and Bryant played to a scoreless draw at halftime before UAlbany's offense broke through with three second-half goals, starting first with Andrew Weiner scoring unassisted in the 56th minute to break the tie.  Tiago Dias added a second goal in the 58th minute, and Saad Faiz capped off scoring in the 70th.  UAlbany outshot Bryant 15-5 overall.
 
Around the America East
Vermont has won seven-straight games since starting the season 1-1-1 and shares a three-way tie for the America East lead with six points with New Hampshire and UAlbany.  The Catamounts have climbed to #15 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll, and rank first in the Northeast regional poll.  The top three schools in the standings have separated themselves from the field, with NJIT sitting fourth with two points, followed by UMass Lowell and Binghamton with one each.  UMBC and Bryant round out the standings, each seeking their first conference victory.
 
Saturday's America East Games

• Bryant at #15 Vermont, 1:00 pm
• New Hampshire at NJIT, 3:00 pm
• UAlbany at Binghamton, 6:00 pm
• UMass Lowell at UMBC, 7:00 pm

Rookie of the Week
Jackson Finn scored the game-winner against the America East's top-scoring team, UMBC, on the road in the team's conference opener, and earned his first career weekly award.  The Retrievers had scored eight more goals than any other America East squad, but the Great Danes held UMBC scoreless over their 90-minute match.  Finn broke the scoreless tie late in the game, collecting a rebound against an open net after teammates Saad Faiz and Domenic Baumann took back-to-back shots to draw UMBC goalkeeper Quantrell Jones out of position.
 
Hall of Fame Semifinalist
The most prolific scorer in UAlbany men's soccer history, Lee Tschantret, was named a semifinalist to the National Soccer Hall of Fame's 2023 Veteran Ballot.  Tschantret played at UAlbany from 1987-90, scoring a program-record that still stands today 51 goals.  He earned All-America honors in 1988 and 1989, and after his collegiate season enjoyed a 20-year professional career.
 
Associate
Rich Nassif was promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2022, his fifth season on the sidelines at UAlbany.  Nassif joined UAlbany in 2018 following his second stint on the coaching staff at his alma mater, Northwestern University.  Since joining the Great Danes' sidelines, the team has averaged nine wins per full season and qualified for two America East tournaments.  Some of the Great Danes biggest wins with Nassif are Vermont in 2018 and 2019, #14 New Hampshire in 2019, Villanova in 2021, and Penn this season.
 
U.S. Open Cup
Former UAlbany goalkeeper Danny Vitiello and his Sacramento Republic FC team advanced to the championship game of the U.S. Open Cup against Orlando City SC of the MLS.  Sacramento was the first team from outside the MLS to reach the title game since Charleston Battery played against D.C. United in 2008.  Vitiello and Sacramento defeated three MLS teams en route to the final, the San Jose Earthquakes, the L.A. Galaxy, and Sporting Kansas City.  In the latter game, the semifinal, Vitiello recorded the decisive save in the penalty kick shootout to advance Sacramento to the final.  Sacramento's magic run ended against Orlando City, falling 3-0.
 
From the Field
When Saad Faiz scored his first goal of the season, in the 24th minute of the Great Danes' sixth game of the year, at Rutgers, it was the team's first goal scored from the field of the 2022 season.  All three of the Great Danes' previous goals were scored on penalty kicks.  Faiz's goal ended a drought of just over 520 minutes of game time since their previous goal from the field, in the 44th minute of the 2021 America East quarterfinal against NJIT.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Daniel Shannon recorded his first career shutout and victory as UAlbany's goalkeeper in the Great Danes' fifth game of the year when they hosted the Penn Quakers.  Shannon faced a total of 21 shots and made four saves to keep the Quakers off the board and hold the 1-0 lead to victory.  Shannon is UAlbany's first defensive player of the week since former teammate Carlos Tofern was named on September 7, 2021.
 
Three-for-Three
Through five games, UAlbany has scored three goals on the 2022 season.  Each goal came via penalty kick, first in the season opener against Boston University and second at Marist at the end of a three-game road swing.  Pantelis Panteli took each penalty kick for the Great Danes, making Panteli accountable for all UAlbany scoring through the early part of the season.  In the fifth game of the season, Domenic Baumann stepped in for Panteli on the Great Danes' PK against Penn and successfully converted the attempt, making UAlbany 3-3 on PKs this season.
 
International Flavor
Continuing a tradition within the UAlbany men's soccer program under head coach Trevor Gorman, the 2022 Great Danes feature a sizeable international roster.  Thirteen countries are represented among UAlbany's ranks this season: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.
 
New Faces
UAlbany welcomes 16 new players to the roster for the 2022 season, replacing 15 departures and bringing the team roster to a total of 30.  Though the Great Danes return second-leading scorer Andrew Weiner from last year, the members of the new class will fill in for the production left behind by the departures of the first, third, and fourth-leading scorers, a total of six goals and 11 assists.
 
Picked Fourth
After finishing the 2021 regular season third in the America East standings, the Great Danes were picked to finish fourth in the league's 2022 preseason coaches' poll.  Behind unanimous favorite New Hampshire, picked to win the league for the fourth-straight season, the distribution tightened up.  Defending tournament champion Vermont was picked second just two points ahead of third-pick UMBC, and five points ahead of UAlbany.  NJIT was picked fifth, ahead of Binghamton and UMass Lowell in a tie for sixth, with conference newcomer Bryant picked eighth.
 
Game Over
Adopted starting this season, regular-season matches will no longer go into extra time when tied at the conclusion of regulation.  The regular-seasons games will conclude after 90 minutes of play.  Overtime and shootouts will return starting in the postseason.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts Army West Point on October 11, its first of three-straight games at home.