The Bulls and Chippewas matched up last season in the quarterfinal round with the match being played in Buffalo as the seeds were swapped. The Chippewas scored the game-tying goal with three seconds remaining in the match before eventually falling to the Bulls in a shootout. The two teams also matched up last week in Buffalo as they battled to a 1-1 draw after Central Michigan scored the tying goal with 15 seconds left in the match.
Buffalo closed out their regular season with a 7-7-5 overall record and a 4-4-3 MAC record, giving the Bulls three straight seasons with at least seven wins and four MAC wins. UB finished off their second unbeaten season at home over the past three seasons as they notched a 7-0-3 mark at UB Stadium. The Bulls offense finished the season with 19 goals while allowing just 16 goals against.
UB is being led offensively by redshirt sophomore Carissima Cutrona who netted a career-best 10 goals and one assist for 21 points, becoming just the second UB player over the last 13 seasons to notch 10+ goals in a season. Senior Celina Carrero netted the game-winner for UB last time out and she now ranks second on the Bulls with two goals and two assists for six points while juniors Julia Benati and Moira Petrie each recorded two goals and two assists.
Defensively, the Buffalo back line of Angel Hart, Ashley Evans, Gurjeena Jandu and Adrianna VanCuyck has grown together and have played great over the last month of the season. Junior Laura Dougall has continued to have success behind the back line as she owns a 7-7-5 record to go along with a 0.74 goals-against average and six shutouts on the year.
Central Michigan earned the No. 3 seed after defeating Eastern Michigan 1-0 in their regular season finale. The Chippewas finished off the regular season with a 14-2-3 overall record and a 6-2-3 MAC mark while finishing their home slate with an unbeaten 6-0-2 record. Central Michigan is led offensively by the MAC-leading scorer Alexis Pelafas who netted 15 goals and three assists for 33 points while Jamie Rademacher finished with two goals and seven assists for 11 points.
The winner of Sunday’s No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup will play the winner of Kent State and Eastern Michigan on Friday in the MAC Semifinal.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
