Women's Soccer Opens Up Conference Action With A 2-0 Victory At Kent State

Friday, September 26

4 pm

University at Buffalo

5-2-1, 1-0-0

Kent State

5-3-1, 0-1-0

Buffalo

KENT STATE

Women's Soccer Opens Up Conference Action With A 2-0 Victory At Kent State

9/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

KENT, OH – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team (5-2-1, 1-0-0 MAC) got back on the winning track on Friday afternoon in their conference opener against the Kent State Golden Flashes, winning by the score of 2-0. Laura Dougall secured her fifth shutout of the season with an eight save effort in goal for the Bulls.

"We had a massive team effort victory this afternoon," said head coach Shawn Burke. "We were very well organized in the back and got a couple big time saves from Laura Dougall to preserve the shutout."

The Bulls jumped out to a quick start for the first time in awhile on Friday as they recorded the first three shot attempts of the contest before burying the first goal of the contest in the eighth minute of action. Following a pair of blocked shots off the foot of senior Katie Roberts, junior Kassidy Kidd headed a shot that was saved but bounced right to Roberts who found the back of the net, her third of the year. The Kidd to Roberts connection scored for the second straight game for UB.

The Golden Flashes made a push in the next 12 minutes as Dougall stood up and made a pair of huge saves to keep the Bulls ahead, 1-0. In the 22^nd minute, sophomore Celina Carrero provided the Bulls a huge goal to create some breathing room with Kent State. Carrero took a Roberts feed and bent a shot over the outstretched arms of Stephanie Senn for the goal from 25 yards away. The long distance tally for Carrero tied her for the team lead in goals, three, with Roberts.

The two squads went back-and-forth in the final 23 minutes of action as Dougall was asked to make only one more save while the Bulls put two shots on the Kent State keeper. For the half, both teams recorded 11 shots.

UB started out the second half strong as they recorded four shots on goal before the Golden Flashes recorded their first of the half. Carrero opened up the half with a header that was saved by Senn and then Roberts, Ashley Evans and Andrea Niper each had their attempts pushed aside by the keeper. Midway through the second half, Sophie Therien had her best chance of the contest but her shot from distance rang off the post and was cleared by the Golden Flashes.

In the 86^th minute of action, Carrero came close to recording her second of the night but her blast went off the post and out, preserving the 2-0 road conference victory for the Bulls.

"The difference tonight was the play of Katie Roberts and Celina Carrero up front," stated Burke. "Roberts' ability to maintain possession and her goal and assist were the difference. Kent State is one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference and winning at their place says a lot about our team's performance."

For the match, the Bulls held the 17-16 advantage in shots including the 11-8 edge in shots on goal. Leading the way offensively for UB was Roberts who finished with a season-high five shots while Carrero had three and Julia Benati finished with two. The backline of the Bulls, Jackie Hall, Sophie Therien, Kristin Markiewicz and Courtney Mann got back on track as a unit on Friday to preserve the cleansheet.

In the battle of the keepers, Dougall finished with a career-high eight saves while Senn made eight saves in the loss. Dougall has now appeared in seven matches in her young career, recording five shutouts and combining on a sixth shutout for UB.

Following the match, Roberts was awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after a great game offensively, notching a goal, assist and a game-high five shots.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH (Through eight 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

Buffalo will return to the pitch on Sunday afternoon, as they will travel to take on the Ohio Bobcats. Kickoff is set for 1:00 pm.