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UB Women's Soccer Receiving Votes In Top-25 Coaches Poll
11/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY – After finishing off just the third unbeaten regular season in Mid-American Conference history and defeating the Toledo Rockets in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament, the State University of New York, Buffalo women's soccer team (14-2-3, 9-0-2 MAC) received a vote in the top-25 coaches' poll, released on Tuesday afternoon. The vote marked the first-time in program history that the Bulls appeared in the poll. Buffalo is the lone MAC school represented in this week's poll.
"This is another great recognition for the players," said first-year head coach Shawn Burke. "It just shows the body of work they have put together so far and the direction of this program. When you are in the conversation for a top-25 spot in the country, you know you are doing something right. The girls deserve all the credit for their successes so far this season."
The Bulls closed out their regular season on an 11-game unbeaten streak (9-0-2) and they extended that streak to 12 on Sunday in the MAC quarterfinals, downing Toledo by the score of 2-0. The 14 wins on the year tied a program record for wins in a season and the 13 clean sheets on the season is also a record for the Bulls.
After earning the #1 overall seed for the MAC Tournament, the Bulls defended their home turf on Sunday with a dominant victory over the Rockets. After a slow start, the Bulls came out flying in the second half as they netted a pair of goals. Katie Roberts netted the first goal of the game before Andrea Niper closed out the scoring with her first career marker. With the clean sheet, UB goalkeeper Laura Dougall set the program record for shutouts in a season with 12 and wins with 14.
Reigning MAC Defensive Player of the week, Jackie Hall, anchors the best defense in program history as the Bulls have only allowed 12 goals on the season, including five against nationally ranked Virginia Tech. The UB defensive back line of Hall, Sophie Therien, Kristin Markiewicz and Angel Hart have preserved a program record 13 clean sheets to go along with a goals-against average of 0.60 on the season. The stingy defense has allowed five shots or less in 14 of 19 games this season including the previous six contests.
Leading the charge offensively for the Bulls this season is Roberts who has netted a MAC-leading 11 goals to go along with two assists. Roberts leads the MAC with six game-winning goals on the season including in the quarterfinal victory over Toledo. Sophomore Celina Carrero has proved to be more than a capable secondary offensive option for the Bulls this season as she leads the MAC in assists with seven and has also chipped in six goals on the year.
The UB offense has seen a major improvement this season under first-year head coach Shawn Burke as they rank first in the MAC in shots/game (16.5), third in goals (29) and third in goals/game (1.53). The Bulls have outscored their opponents 12-5 in the first half, 14-7 in the second half and 3-0 in overtimes this season.
The top-seeded Bulls will play host to #4 Ball State on Friday, November 7 at 4:00 pm in the MAC semifinals at UB Stadium. UB earned a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals in their previous meeting as Roberts netted the game-winning penalty kick goal in double overtime.
