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Women's Soccer Hits The Road For Crucial MAC Weekend
10/16/2014 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's soccer team (8-2-3, 4-0-2 MAC) hits the road for their final time in the regular season this weekend as they travel to Central Michigan on Friday and Toledo on Sunday.
"We have put ourselves in a good position heading into this weekend," stated head coach Shawn Burke. "We have a crucial weekend against quality opponents and we must pick up some points in order to stay in contention for the top spot in the MAC."
Through six Mid-American Conference contests, the Bulls have earned the longest unbeaten streak to start the MAC season (4-0-2) in program history. UB is also currently riding a six-game unbeaten streak overall, their longest streak since 2008.
The Bulls are coming off of a tough conference weekend as they battled hard to pick up a pair of ties against two of the better teams in the conference in Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. On Friday, the Bulls held the advantage in most categories but they were not able to break through with the winning marker, earning the scoreless draw against Northern Illinois. Kassidy Kidd had one of her strongest performances of the season against the Huskies as she was recorded a season-best seven shots including three shots on goal while looking dangerous all night long.
On Sunday, the Bulls hosted the defending MAC champions in Western Michigan. UB jumped out to the early lead as Megan Abman came off the bench and ignited the Bulls with a first half goal after a perfect pass from Kidd. Western Michigan was able to get the equalizing goal in the second half and the two squads went scoreless in the overtime periods to preserve the tie, 1-1. Katie Roberts and Rachel Cook led the Bulls with three shots in the draw.
Offensively the Bulls have already passed the scoring total from last season, 14 goals, as they have racked up 17 goals through only 13 contests. Leading the UB charge offensively is Roberts, who ranks second in the MAC in goals with seven and also has a pair of assists on the season. Roberts leads the Bulls in all offensive categories including points (16), shots (44), shots on goal (23) and game-winning goals (four). Also giving the UB offense a huge boost this season is sophomore Celina Carrero who ranks second on the team with three goals and three assists. Freshman Julia Benati has been a pleasant surprise for the Bulls as she has notched three goals and three assists to go along with 33 shots and two game-winning markers in her first season of college soccer.
As usual, the UB defense has been the key factor behind their success as they have allowed only 10 goals on the season, five of which coming against #3 Virginia Tech. The back line of Jackie Hall, Sophie Therien, Kristin Markiewicz and Angel Hart has been exceptional all season and is considered by most, the best back line in the MAC. The Bulls defense opened up the season by breaking the program record for shutout streak, spanning 493 minutes before allowing their first goal of the season.
Because of the presence of a dominant back line and overall sturdy team defense, freshman goalkeeper Laura Dougall has been awarded with one of the best starts to a season by a goalkeeper in program history. Dougall has not faced many shots due to her defense but when she has been challenged she is up to the task, ranking first in the conference in shutouts with eight, in her first season.
On the year, Dougall owns an 8-1-3 record while sporting a goals-against average of 0.39 and a save percentage of .911, ranking her second in the NCAA. Dougall has already etched her name in the program record books as she ranks second all-time in shutouts for a season (eight) and her GAA of 0.39 currently ranks her first in program history for a season.
Central Michigan enters the weekend matchup with an overall record of 3-10-1 and a MAC record of 1-5-0. The Chippewas dropped their last match on Sunday to Eastern Michigan by the score of 2-0 and defeated Bowling Green for their lone MAC win on Friday. Leading the Chippewas offense is senior forward Laura Gosse who has recorded six goals and 36 shots so far this season. In net, Maddy Bunnell has started 11 matches and owns a goals-against average of 1.85 while making 64 saves on the season.
The Toledo Rockets enter the weekend with an overall record of 5-8-1 and a conference mark of 2-4-0 so far this season following a 1-0 win at Bowling Green on Sunday. The Rockets are led by a pair of players as Kiersten Johnson leads the team with three goals and Geri Siudzinski has two goals and two assists on the season. Between the pipes, Sam Tiongson has been solid for the Rockets as she owns a 5-8-1 record to go along with a goals-against average of 1.17 and five shutouts.
Following the weekend, the remainder of the Bulls schedule consists of three MAC matches, all of which at UB Stadium. UB takes on Ball State, Miami (OH) and Akron to close out their regular season slate. The Bulls game on Sunday, October 26 against Miami (OH) will also be UB's Senior Day game.
