Women's Soccer Battles Western Michigan To 1-1 Draw

Sunday, October 12

12 pm

8-2-3 (4-0-2MAC)

Western Michigan

9-4-1 (3-2-1MAC)

OT 1

OT 2

Western Michigan

Buffalo

Women's Soccer Battles Western Michigan To 1-1 Draw

10/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's soccer team (8-2-3, 4-0-2 MAC) stayed unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play on Sunday afternoon as they battled the Western Michigan Broncos to a 1-1 draw at UB Stadium. With the tie, UB now sits in first place in the MAC east standings with 14 points and set a program record for the best start in MAC play, 4-0-2.

"It was a gutty performance today for us," said first-year head coach Shawn Burke. "It's really hard to play two double overtime games in a weekend. You can see it, the girls were clearly tired this afternoon but they worked together to earn a point. The girls really dug deep and fought to earn the tie today."

After entering as a sub early on in the opening half, Megan Abman made an immediate impact for the Bulls as she netted her second goal of the season in the 35^th minute. Kassidy Kidd started the play with a perfect cross to Abman who calmly buried the ball in the lower right corner of the net. Kidd is now tied for the team lead with three assists and has five points in her last seven matches for the Bulls.

Following a defensive first half by both teams, only three shots each, the two sides opened it up offensively in the second half.

In the 50^th minute, Alex Lambert almost scored her first goal of her career but her attempt was pushed aside by the Broncos keeper after a nice cross from Katie Roberts.

After early pressure by the Bulls, the Broncos got on the board to tie the game at one in the 68^th minute. Ariana Donahue took a perfect cross from Irene Young and beat the UB keeper to the right corner.

Down the stretch of the second half, Laura Dougall came up big for the Bulls as she made back-to-back diving saves to force overtime. Dougall stopped Aubrey Sudomier with nine minutes left to play and then robbed Young.

The Bulls dominated the overtime periods as they held the 5-0 advantage in shots but they weren't able to break through with the winning goal. Julia Benati had a great chance in the second overtime but her blast of a shot was turned away by Stephanie Heber. In the 104^th minute, Courtney Mann had a great chance to end it for UB but her shot was saved, preserving the tie for both squads.

For the match, Western Michigan held the slim 17-15 advantage in shots and 9-4 edge in corner kicks. Roberts and Rachel Cook led the Bulls with three shots each while Benati had a pair of shots on goal.

Dougall finished the game with six saves while her counterpart Heber finished with a game-high nine in the tie. Dougall now owns a record of 8-2-3 on the season with a goals-against average of 0.39.

Following the match, Andrea Niper was awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after a strong performance in the midfield for the Bulls. Niper was strong all afternoon long defensively after entering early in the match.

When asked about the play of Niper, head coach Shawn Burke stated, "I was very pleased with the effort of Andrea Niper today as she was asked to play out of position. After Jackie Hall went out, the team didn't miss a beat because Niper was able to slide in and play in place of Courtney Mann who moved to the center back position."

PLAYER OF THE MATCH (Through 13 games)
St. Bonaventure – Jackie Hall
Canisius - Angel Hart
Duquesne – Sophie Therien
Drexel – Courtney Mann
Niagara – Jackie Hall
#3 Virginia Tech – Ashley Evans and Courtney Mann
Cornell - Julia Benati
Kent State - Katie Roberts
Ohio – Alex Lambert
Bowling Green – Kassidy Kidd
Eastern Michigan – Celina Carrero
Northern Illinois – Kassidy Kidd
Western Michigan - Andrea Niper

The Bulls will hit the road for a pair of MAC contests as they take on Central Michigan on Friday and Toledo on Sunday. Friday's match is set to start at 4:00 pm and Sunday's is slated for a 1:00 pm start.