BUFFALO — Buffalo State netted a pair of second half goals and William Banahene (Rochester/Brighton) made seven saves as the Bengals captured their first SUNYAC playoff victory since 1984, defeating New Paltz, 2-0, in today’s SUNYAC quarterfinal match at Coyer Field.
Buffalo State spent much of the first half on its own half of the field, but conceded limited quality chances to the Hawks how finished the opening 45 minutes with a 5-1 edge in shots. The Bengals emerged from the intermission as the aggressors in the second half, but it was New Paltz who registered the best early chance, ripping a long shot that goalkeeper Banahene was able to deflect before it glanced off of the cross bar.
Buffalo State responded and continued to apply pressure and Brandon Galanti (Hamburg/Frontier) earned a foul in the box in the 65th minute as he was taken down from behind by the goalkeeper racing for a loose ball. Bass Sarr (New York/JREC) converted the ensuing penalty kick for his 12th goal of the season to break the scoreless draw. The teams traded possession over the next several minutes before New Paltz drew a point-blank chance with 13 minutes remaining, but Banahene dove and got a hand on a shot heading inside of the left post. Just two minutes later in the 78th minute, Galanti sealed the victory with his fourth goal of the season, intercepting a ball off a misplayed header by a New Paltz defender and slipping it past the challenging Hawks’ keeper.
Buffalo State had not won a playoff game since defeating Oneonta, 2-1, in the 1984 SUNYAC semifinals. The Bengals lost in the conference championship game that season, but still earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bengals reached the 11 win mark for the first time since 2004 and just the second time since 1984.
Buffalo State advances to visit top-seeded Cortland in a semifinal match at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
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