Buffalo State’s Theo Pencic tallies second hat trick, soccer tops Alfred in overtime, 3-2

BUFFALO STATE ATHLETICS

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Theo Pencic (Oslo, Norway/Heltberg) completed his second hat trick of the season with a goal in the 97^th minute to lift Buffalo State to a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over visiting Alfred University in tonight’s non-conference regular-season finale.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 3, Alfred University – 2 (OT)
LOCATION: Coyer Field – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (11-4-2), Alfred University (5-12)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Pencic leads the team with 11 goals in only 12 games, becoming only the fourth player since 2012 to tally more than 10 goals in a season.  
• Pa Lu (Buffalo/International Prep) and Ali Shawish (Lackawanna/Lackawanna) each finished with assists.
• Buffalo State got off to a quick start with two shots in the first three minutes of play and was rewarded as Pencic opened the scoring with an unassisted marker in the fifth minute.
• The Bengals had numerous chances to extend the lead, outshooting the Saxons 11-2 in the first half, but couldn’t break through again as the score remained 1-0 at the halftime whistle.
• Alfred regrouped at halftime and evened the score, just 3:48 into the second half, on a long pass that ended with a strike past the goalkeeper.
• Buffalo State reclaimed the lead in the 60^th minute as Pencic netted his second of the contest off the feed from Lu.
• The Bengals continued their offensive dominance, outshooting the Saxons 12-5 in the second half, until they found themselves on the wrong end of a handball in the box as Alfred converted the ensuing penalty kick in the 86^th minute to send the game to extra time.
• After over six minutes of balanced play in the overtime session, Pencic sealed the win with a goal off a pinpoint cross from Shawish.
• Buffalo State finished with an 11-3 shots on goal advantage in the contest.
• Dylan Guarino (Tonawanda/Kenmore East) finished with one save in net for the Bengals.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Zachary Gloskin and Kalum Holbrook each scored for the Saxons, with Holbrook’s goal coming on the penalty kick.
• Joe Gonzalez finished with eight saves for Alfred.

NOTEWORTHY

• Pencic became the first player since 2005 to record two hat tricks in a season, with his first coming against Fredonia on Oct. 6.

UP NEXT                  
Buffalo State will open the SUNYAC playoffs as the No. 5 seed and will travel to No. 4 Oneonta in the quarterfinals this Saturday at 1 p.m.

---

All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.