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Bulls Host Ball State And Miami (OH) In Crucial MAC Weekend
10/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's soccer team (10-2-3, 6-0-2 MAC) returns home for a pair of crucial Mid-American Conference matches this weekend. The Bulls play host to Ball State on Friday at 5:00 pm and Miami (OH) on Sunday at noon. Both matches will take place at UB Stadium.
"Coming home this weekend to face two of the top teams in the MAC is going to make for a tough weekend," stated first-year head coach Shawn Burke. "But the girls have put themselves in a great position to control their own destiny. Both teams bring different challenges and we will need to be at our best to get the results we want. At the end of the day this is what the girls have put the work in for, to have the opportunity to do something special."
Through eight Mid-American Conference contests, the Bulls have earned the longest unbeaten streak to start the MAC season (6-0-2) in program history. UB is also currently riding an eight-game unbeaten streak overall, their longest streak since 2012 when they went unbeaten in 12 matches.
The Bulls are coming off another strong road conference weekend as they picked up a pair of clean sheets. With the two wins, UB improved to 4-0-1 in road MAC games. On Friday, the Bulls picked up just their fourth victory ever against the Central Michigan Chippewas as they downed them by the score of 1-0 behind a Celina Carrero game-winning goal in the first half. Freshman goalkeeper Laura Dougall made three saves in the cleansheet for the Bulls.
On Sunday, UB had their most dominant performance of the season at Toledo as they downed the Rockets by the score of 3-0 on their home turf on Senior Day. The Bulls came out flying as Carrero found the back of the net in the 14th minute after a nice feed from Courtney Mann. In the 35th minute, UB was able extend their lead to two behind a beautiful header goal by Megan Abman. Abman took a perfect crossing pass from Rachel Cook and headed the ball just under the cross bar to notch her third goal of the season. Carrero sealed the game for UB in the 88th minute as she took a Julia Benati feed and scored on a breakaway to give the Bulls the 3-0 road victory.
On Monday, Carrero was named MAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after her three-goal weekend helped the Bulls stay unbeaten in conference action. This was the first-time in her career that Carrero has earned the recognition as MAC Player of the Week.
Offensively the Bulls have already passed the scoring total from last season, 14 goals, as they have racked up 21 goals through only 15 contests. Leading the UB charge offensively is Katie 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 (50), shots on goal (27) and game-winning goals (four). Also giving the UB offense a huge boost this season is Carrero, who ranks second on the team with six goals and three assists while presenting a challenging change of pace style. Benati has been a pleasant surprise for the Bulls as she has notched three goals and four assists to go along with 39 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. The UB defense has secured 11 shutouts so far this season, ranking second most in program history, just one shy of the program record for a season.
Because of the presence of a dominant back line and overall sturdy team defense, 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 10, in her first season.
On the year, Dougall owns a 10-1-3 record while sporting a goals-against average of 0.34 and a save percentage of .921, ranking her sixth and second in the NCAA, respectively. Dougall has already etched her name in the program record books as she is tied for first all-time in shutouts in a season (10) and her GAA of 0.34 currently ranks her first in program history for a season.
Ball State enters the weekend matchup with an overall record of 9-4-2 and a conference mark of 5-3-0. The Cardinals have picked up three straight conference victories, all of which, by the score of 1-0. Leading the offensive charge for the Cardinals is Gabby Veldman who has recorded three goals and four assists for 10 points so far this season. Veldman also ranks first on the team with three game-winning markers. Between the pipes, Brooke Dennis leads Ball State with a 6-4-2 overall record to go along with a 0.99 goals-against average and four clean sheets.
The Miami (OH) RedHawks enter the weekend right behind the Bulls in the conference standings as they have accumulated 19 points in conference action. The RedHawks own an overall record of 12-2-1 and a conference mark of 6-1-1. Offensively Miami is led by MAC leading scorer Kelsey Dinges who has racked up nine goals and four assists through 15 games for the RedHawks. Kat Zaler has also been solid for Miami as she ranks second on the team with six goals on the season. In goal, Vic Maniaci has started nine contests and owns a 7-1-1 overall record while compiling five shutouts and a goals-against average of 0.51. Backup keeper Danielle Wiseman has also been solid for the RedHawks as she has a 5-1-0 record with two clean sheets and a goals-against average of 1.09.
Following the weekend, UB will have one more MAC contest as they play host to the Akron Zips in the regular season finale on Thursday, October 30 at 3:00 pm at UB Stadium.
