although considered short for a goalkeeper, standing at 178 cm, he makes up for his lack of height with superb agility and reflexes. in 2006, he was part of the yokohama fc defense that set a j.league record when they did not concede a goal for 770 consecutive minutes, breaking shimizu s-pulse's 731 minutes recorded in 1993. they also kept 7 consecutive clean sheets (which was also a tied j2 league record) en route to promotion to the j1 league. in 2007 sugeno was named j.league rookie of the year. in 2008, he was signed by kashiwa reysol, a move which some consider unwise as kashiwa already have a good and relatively young goalkeeper in yuta minami.