BUFFALO — Senior captain Russell Cicerone continued his home prowess on Friday night as he buried the game-tying goal with under a minute remaining in regulation to help lead the University at Buffalo men’s soccer team (9-3-2, 1-1-1 MAC) to a 1-1 draw with Western Michigan. With his game-tying goal, Cicerone now has 12 goals on the year and he notched his 101st career point, becoming just the second UB player and third in MAC history to do so.
Joseph Kuta came up with a huge save in the second minute as he robbed Diego Lopez from in close as he ripped a hard shot on cage. The Bulls had their first dangerous chance of the match in the 17th minute as Braden Scales sent a cross into the box where Scott Doney got a head on the ball and sent it towards the left corner of the net but Drew Sheppard got a hand on the ball and poked it to a defender. In the 31st minute, Zach Bock made a nice run but his chance on the open goal went just wide right. Tommy Fogarty-Cameron had a look on goal in the 42nd minute but his hard shot went just right of the WMU goal.
The save of the match came in the 65th minute as Edu Jimenez sent a free kick into the box where Anthony Bowie gathered it and ripped a shot from in tight that Joseph Kuta made a great stop on to keep the score 1-0 in favor of the Broncos. In the 83rd minute, Russell Cicerone took a hard shot from distance that was stopped by the diving WMU keeper to his right. Hunter Walsh had a great chance to tie the game with just over a minute remaining but his right footed shot just missed the left corner after Scott Doney headed him a great ball. With 52 seconds remaining in the second half, Russell Cicerone broke through with the game-tying goal for the Bulls. Alec Fisher gathered the ball and whipped a perfect cross into the box where Cicerone climbed the ladder and headed home his MAC-leading 12th goal of the season to send the match to overtime. Neither side had a great chance in the first overtime but Rikard Lindqvist saw his strike in the 97th minute blocked away by a Bronco defender. In the 106th minute, the Western Michigan Broncos saw their would-be game-winner called off as their forward committed a foul to get into position. In the waning seconds of the match, Russell Cicerone drove in wide and tried getting into a dangerous position but he wasn’t able to get a shot off as the time wore off the clock and the sides played to a draw.
The Bulls will stay at home on Oct. 28 as they welcome MAC foe Northern Illinois to UB Stadium. First kick is set for 7 p.m.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
