UB women’s soccer drops home finale to Akron; secure No. 7 seed for MAC tournament

UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO ATHLETICS

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo women’s soccer team (11-7-0, 5-6-0 MAC) dropped their final home match of the season on Thursday afternoon inside UB Stadium to the Akron Zips, 3-2, on a goal in the 75^thminute of play. Despite the loss, Buffalo clinched a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 7 seed. UB will head to No. 2 Ball State on Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 pm kick off. 

• Score: Buffalo 2, Akron 3
• Records: Buffalo (11-7-0, 5-6-0 MAC), Akron (8-9-2, 5-5-1 MAC)
• Buffalo Goal Scorer: Marcy Barberic 2 (7)
• Buffalo Assists: Gianna Yurchak (1), Rebecca Bramble (3)
• Akron Goal Scorer: Sydney Worthy (6), Lexie Kolano 2 (3)
• Akron Assist: Carly Pcholinsky (3)
• Location: UB Stadium – Buffalo, NY
• Attendance: 117

• Buffalo: Emily Kelly, Rebecca Bramble, Gurjeena Jandu, Tess Ford, Carley Zoccali, Hannah Callaghan, Andrea Judasz, Kaitlyn Walsh, Gianna Yurchak, Marcy Barberic, Meghan Simmons
• Akron: Erin McKinney, Kayleigh Penton, Abigail Brown, Charley Kale, Ashley Amato, Sydney Worthy, Carly Pcholinsky, Shae O’Brien, Ryley Watt, Lexie Kolano, Erica Schrader

• Buffalo had the first scoring chance of the game in the third minute of play as Marcy Barberic ripped a hard low shot towards the left corner of the Akron goal that the keeper got a hand on and poked out of play.
• On the ensuing corner kick, Kaitlyn Walsh got her head on the ball that was whipped in by Gurjeena Jandu but it was stopped by Erin McKinney.
• The Bulls broke through with the first goal of the match in the 13^th minute as Rebecca Bramble found Gianna Yurchak who sent Marcy Barberic in free and she beat the Akron keeper to the lower right corner.
• The Zips were able to tie the match up, 1-1, in the 23^rd minute as Sydney Worthy made a resilient play as she collected her own rebound off of a shot and buried the goal on the rebound.
• Marcy Barberic had another good scoring chance in the 29^th minute as she streaked in down the left flank and took a shot toward the right corner that was saved by the Zips keeper.
• Emily Kelly made a nice stop in thwe 40^th minute to keep the match knotted, 1-1, as she jumped up to grab the hard shot by Ashley Amato.
• The Zips had the first scoring chance of the second half in the 48^th minute as Shae O’Brien took a shot from a poor angle that Emily Kelly made a jumping stop on.
• Akron took the 2-1 lead in the 50^th minute as Lexie Kolano found the loose ball in the box and buried the goal into the upper right corner of the UB goal.
• In the 56^th minute, Marcy Barberic had a chance from just inside the 18-yard box but her right-footed shot soared just wide of the left corner of the Akron goal.
• Buffalo was able to level the score, 2-2, in the 66^th minute of play as the Zips were whistled for a hand ball in the box to give UB the penalty kick. On the ensuing kick, Marcy Barberic potted her second of the match into the right corner of the goal.
• Freshman Tess Ford had a golden opportunity to give UB the lead in the 72^nd minute as she came from her center back position and ripped a hard low shot towards the left corner but the Zips keeper made a great save to prevent the go-ahead goal.
• The Zips were then able to counter and collect the eventual game-winning goal as Lexie Kolano took a feed from Carly Pcholinsky and deposited her second of the match into the back of the UB net to make it 3-2.
• The Bulls pressed for the tying goal down the final couple minutes of the match but Andrea Judasz and Gurjeena Jandu saw their two efforts go wide of the goal as the Bulls fell 3-2 in their final home match of the season.

• Despite the loss, the Bulls were able to qualify for their fifth straight MAC Tournament as they earned the #7 seed and will take on #2 Ball State on Sunday at 1:00 pm on the road.
• Sophomore Marcy Barberic netted a pair of goals in the loss, her second career multi-goal match and her third match this season with four points.
• The penalty kick goal for Barberic was the first of her career.
• Gianna Yurchak notched her first assist of the season while Rebecca Bramble netted her career-high third helper on the year.
• For the match, both sides notched 19 shots while the Bulls held the slim 6-4 edge in corner kicks in the loss.
• In goal, Erin McKinney finished off the win for Akron with seven saves while Emily Kelly finished off her match with eight saves in the loss.
• Marcy Barberic finished off her afternoon notching a career-high nine shots, five on goal, in the loss while Tess Ford and Andrea Judasz each recorded two shots.

• St. John’s – Kaitlyn Walsh
• Youngstown State – Gurjeena Jandu
• Cornell – Hannah Callaghan
• Albany – Carissima Cutrona
• Canisius – Gianna Yurchak
• St. Francis (PA) – Adrianna VanCuyck
• St. Bonaventure – Carissima Cutrona
• Northern Illinois – Mairead Martin
• Western Michigan – Hannah Callaghan
• Central Michigan – Carissima Cutrona
• Eastern Michigan – Marcy Barberic
• Kent State – Sarah Bykowicz
• Miami (OH) – Gianna Yurchak
• Ball State – Taylor Caridi
• Toledo – Katherine Camper
• Bowling Green – Hannah Callaghan
• Akron – Marcy Barberic