Bulls Close Out Regular Season With Double Overtime Victory Over Akron, 2-1

Thursday, October 30

3 pm

13-2-3 (9-0-2MAC)

Akron

6-12-1 (2-9-0MAC)

OT 3

OT 4

Akron

Buffalo

Bulls Close Out Regular Season With Double Overtime Victory Over Akron, 2-1

10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

JACKIE HALL POST MATCH INTERVIEW

BUFFALO, NY – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's soccer team preserved their unbeaten Mid-American Conference season with a double overtime victory over Akron on Thursday afternoon, 2-1. Jackie Hall scored the game-winning goal for the Bulls who will enter the MAC tournament on Sunday as the #1 overall seed.

"I give a ton of credit to Akron," stated first-year head coach Shawn Burke. "It's a testament to how good the MAC is because Akron was a quality team that gave us fits all afternoon. I'm proud of the way the girls responded after a slow start and fought back to get a result. Going undefeated in conference is such an amazing accomplishment and these girls deserve all the credit.

With the win, UB improved to 13-2-3 overall and 9-0-2 in MAC play, their first unbeaten conference season in program history and only the third in MAC history. The Bulls also closed out the regular season unbeaten at home with a record of 8-0-1.

The game-winning goal came off the head of the Bulls best defensive player, Hall. After some nice work by UB in the attacking third that earned a corner kick, Julia Benati sent a pretty ball into the box where Celina Carrero controlled it, passed it to Hall and she headed it into the net for her second goal of the season. The goal in the 102^nd minute was UB's third overtime winner of the season including two in double overtime.

The assist for Carrero was her team-leading sixth assist on the season while Hall notched her second game-winner of the season from her center back position, both off set pieces.

The Zips opened the scoring in the first half as leading scorer Lani Smith found the back of the net in the fifth minute after a bad bounce off one of UB's defenders. Smith took the shot that was defensed by the UB player but it went into the left corner of the net. Bull goalkeeper Laura Dougall had no chance after the deflection, allowing just her seventh goal of the regular season.

Once the second half began, the Bulls looked like a different team as they opened things up offensively and began creating chances. In the 54^th minute, the Bulls were finally rewarded with the game-tying goal after a great shot by Kassidy Kidd. Kristin Markiewicz started the play down the right sideline as she found a streaking Kidd who danced into the middle of the field and took a rocket of a left-footed shot from 20-yards out that snuck inside the left post and cross bar for her second goal of the season. The shot by Kidd was a thing of beauty and the assist for Markiewicz was her first of the season.

The Bulls dominated the overtime periods and they were rewarded with the game-winner off the corner kick by Benati in the 102^nd minute of action. UB outshot Akron 2-0 in the overtime periods.

In goal, Dougall made four saves en route to her 13^th win of the season. Akron had a pair of goalkeepers play on Thursday; combining to make 12 saves in the defeat. The For the 13^th time this season, the UB defense held their opponents to five shots on goal or less for the game, most in the MAC. UB has held their last five opponents to five shots or less.

For the match, UB held the 23-11 advantage in shots and the 4-1 lead in corner kicks. Kidd and Benati led the way offensively with five shots each in the victory while Carrero and Katie Roberts each finished with three.

Following the match, Carrero was awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after another dominant offensive effort as she picked up her team-leading sixth assist. Carrero has now earned the award twice this season.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH (Through 18 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 Central Michigan – Courtney Mann
Toledo – Jackie Hall
Ball State – Katie Roberts 
Miami (OH) - Katie Roberts
Akron – Celina Carrero

The Bulls earned the #1 overall seed for the MAC tournament and they will host Toledo at UB Stadium on Sunday at 1:00 pm in the quarterfinals.