BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The University at Buffalo men’s soccer team (11-3-3, 2-1-2 MAC) battled to a scoreless draw on Saturday night on the road at Bowling Green in the regular season finale for both teams. With the draw, the Bulls earned the #3 seed in next weekend’s MAC Tournament and Buffalo will play the Bowling Green Falcons for the second straight match.
The Falcons had the best chance of the early going as Moe Mustafa hit the post with his header attempt in the third minute. After a Bowling Green offsides, Russell Cicerone had the Bulls first shot but his blast was saved by the Falcons keeper. Three minutes later, Russell Cicerone had another shot that was stopped by Anthony Mwembia. In the 15th minute, Joseph Kuta made his first nice save of the match as he stopped the shot by Chris Brennan. Joseph Kuta made a pair of big saves in the 25th minute as he robbed Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan. The Falcons had two more chances to score in the 37th minute but Joseph Kuta made a pair of great saves to help the Bulls go to half tied, 0-0.
Russell Cicerone had the first chance of the second half in the 55th minute but his shot went high of the cage. In the 64th minute, Russell Cicerone ripped a shot that was stopped by Anthony Mwembia, keeping the game scoreless. The Buffalo finally allowed their first shot of the half in the 80th minute as Keaton Reynolds saw his shot go high. Joseph Kuta made a pair of great saves within the last five minutes of regulation as he robbed Chris Brennan and Joe Sullivan. Daniel Cramarossa almost ended the game in the 89th minute but his hard shot hit the cross bar and was cleared out by the Falcons defense, forcing overtime. Two minutes into overtime, Braden Scales had a great chance but his shot was saved by the Bowling Green keeper.
In the 96th minute, Pat Flynn drilled the post and the Buffalo defense cleared the ball away.
Robert Miller had the first shot of the second overtime in the 104th minute but his shot went wide right. The Falcons almost ended the match in the 107th minute but Chris Brennan’s shot rang off the post. In the 108th minute, Ryan Pereira saw his hard shot blocked by the Bowling Green defender. The Falcons had the final shot of the match in the 109th minute but Jacob Roth’s header went wide as the two teams played to a draw.
Head Coach Stu Riddle said, “It was a tight nervy game and definitely had a feeling of a MAC semifinal match. We were resolute defensively and the back line were good vaue for their 10th clean sheet of the year. Going forward we need to be a lot beter if we are going to get what we want out of next weekend.”
The Bulls earned the #3 seed in next weekend’s MAC Tournament and will play the #2 seed Bowling Green Falcons on Friday.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT