Northern Illinois
Velez Nets Two Goals as Bulls Blank Huskies
10/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's
soccer team shutout Northern Illinois, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon,
giving the team its second win of the weekend. Freshman Stephanie
Velez scored both Buffalo goals as the Bulls improve to 3-10-1
(2-3-1 MAC).
Velez scored her first goal of the game at the 6:24 mark to give
the Bulls an early lead. Capitalizing on a Northern Illinois foul,
Angela Nicholas belted a free kick from about 30 yards out. Velez
picked it up in front of the net, catching the NIU goalkeeper off
guard to sneak in the goal. The remainder of the first half was
evenly matched with UB taking the advantage in shots, 6-4. UB
goalkeeper Amy Coron came up with a big save at the one-minute mark
of the half to keep the Bulls up one at the halftime break.
The second half started much like the first, with Velez netting an
early goal. Less than a minute into the half, Velez took a short
pass from Aubrey Stahl and broke away from the NIU defense. Velez
beat the goalkeeper to notch her second goal of the game and third
of the weekend at the 46:08 mark of the match.
"I knew it was going to come sooner or later and our team
really needed this," said Velez, referring to UB's two
wins this weekend. "This weekend just proves that we're
not a bad team. Our results haven't been showing how our team
actually plays. It's just a really great feeling to finally
see some wins."
The Huskies had their chances, but were stopped short by the UB
defense. Lauren Crawford blocked a shot from an NIU attacker that
otherwise would have gone in to keep the Huskies scoreless. The
backline of Jennifer Mihok, Nina Connell, Nicholas and Crawford
helped Coron earn her second shutout of the season. Coron had eight
saves in net and is now just eight saves away from breaking the
all-time UB career record for most saves.
The Bulls will take a road trip next weekend, taking on Toledo on
Friday, October 16 at 4:00 pm, followed by a match up at Bowling
Green on Sunday, October 18 at 1:00 pm.
