VESTAL, N.Y.  – Freshman Shaban Abousaud scored the first goal of his collegiate career 1:25 into overtime to send the Army men’s soccer team to a 1-0 road victory over Binghamton on Wednesday evening at Bearcats Sports Complex.

Army, which played into overtime for the second game in a row, improves to 2-1-1 after the win, while the Bearcats drop to 2-3-0.

“Binghamton is a good team and this is a tough place to play,” said Army head coach Russell Payne. “Credit them for not allowing us to penetrate as much offensively. Sometimes games are like that and on our best chance of the game, we took it well and scored.”

Abousaud tallied the game-winning goal after connecting on a cross that off the foot of sophomore Christian Clark in the 92nd minute of the first overtime period. The points come as the first for either player this season.

“Shaban was very composed with his first touch and, on his second touch, he slotted the ball in at the back post,” Payne said. “I thought our guys started really well in the overtime period after really pressing in the second half.”

Only two saves were required of Army senior goalkeeper Winston Boldt, who picked up his third consecutive shutout and moved into sole possession of Army’s all-time lead in career shutouts with 19. The St. Louis, Mo., native breaks a tie with Lucas Rice (USMA ’93), who collected 18 clean sheets over his career.

“Winston continues to raise the bar for himself and for goalkeepers at the college level and we’re proud of him,” Payne said. “He understands that shutouts are a team effort and the first thing he did was recognize the whole team for their work.”

Army held a 7-5 advantage in shots in the game, while controlling possession for the majority of the match. The bulk of Army’s chances came in the second half as the Black Knights generated only one shot in the opening half, when junior Justin Kim sent the ball wide of the left post in the 22nd minute following a period of sustained possession for the visitors in their attacking half.

Binghamton, which had four shots in the first half, created a late chance in the final seconds of the opening period, but Army freshman Marcos Arroyo had a timely slide to block a shot from the center of the box by graduate student Tommy Moon.

Abousaud got things started in the second half when his shot was saved by Binghamton junior Stefano Frantellizzi in the 55th minute. Frantellizzi finished with a pair of saves for the Bearcats.

Sophomore Trase Stapley and junior Cameron Niccum had scoring opportunities for Army in the 74th and 87th minutes, respectively, with Stapley blasting a hard shot that was saved by Frantellizzi before Niccum headed a left-swinging free kick over the Binghamton crossbar.

Binghamton almost took a late lead in the 85th minute, when sophomore Charlie Novoth sent a cross into the box that narrowly missed a pair of charging Bearcat forwards.

Army is back on the pitch Saturday when it hosts Quinnipiac in a nonconference contest. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Clinton Field.

GAME NOTES: Army picks up its first win in its all-time series with Binghamton, improving to 1-1-0 against the Bearcats … senior Winston Boldt notched up his third straight shutout and became Army’s all-time leader in career shutouts with 19 … freshman Shaban Abousaud scored his first career goal 1:25 into overtime … both of Army’s goals this season have come from freshmen (Mario Da Silva).

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