Women's Soccer Runs Unbeaten Streak To Five; Defeats Niagara, 2-0

Sunday, September 7

7 pm

4-0-1

Niagara

2-1-1

Buffalo

Niagara

Women's Soccer Runs Unbeaten Streak To Five; Defeats Niagara, 2-0

9/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team extended their unbeaten streak to five games on Sunday night at Niagara as they defeated the Purple Eagles by the score of 2-0. With the win, UB moves to 4-0-1 on the season, their best start to a season since the 2008 campaign.

"After a disappointing and flat first half, I am really proud of the way the girls responded with another great team effort in the second half," said first-year head coach Shawn Burke. "The girls really responded in the second half and put their mark on the game."

The Bulls picked up the game-winning goal on a perfectly executed free kick that started with a Sophie Therien cross into the box where Jackie Hall beat the goalkeeper to the left corner of the net in the 61^st minute of action. Kassidy Kidd made a great play on the right of the goal to give UB the free kick.

After a collision that sent starting keeper Laura Dougall to the bench, the Bulls offense took matters into their own hands and increased the lead to 2-0 in the 76th minute. Megan Giesen took the ball at midfield and sent a perfect outlet pass to Celina Carrero to get her in free on the Niagara goal. Carrero didn't waste the great opportunity as she beat the NU goalkeeper with a blast of a shot to the right corner.

As the sixth minute of play hit, the Bulls set a program record for the longest shutout streak to start a season at 385 minutes. The old record was held by the 2008 squad that started the season 4-0-1 and had a shutout streak of 384 minutes.

Both teams played tight defense early on in the game as the first shot of the game didn't come until the 15^th minute as Dougall was asked to make a save on a Purple Eagle shot. In the 22^nd minute, Andrea Niper had a great chance to open the scoring for UB but her shot went just wide from in tight on the right side of the box. Angel Hart sent a perfect cross into Niper but her attempt missed the right corner of the net.

In the 39^th minute it appeared that Hall had given the Bulls the 1-0 lead but her diving header goal was called back due to an offsides call. Hart crossed the ball into the box where Hall dove and scored but it was determined she was offsides on the play.

The two teams entered halftime with the Bulls holding the 4-2 first half advantage in shots and 2-1 advantage in corner kicks.

UB held most of the pressure during the second half of play as they had the 6-2 advantage in shots for the final 45 minutes. Carrero was the most dangerous player on the field in the second half as she recorded a goal and created many other opportunities. Kidd and Niper also had strong second half efforts that will not show up on the score sheet for UB.

Following Dougall's exit in the second half and the entrance of an emergency goalkeeper for the Bulls, the defense of UB really locked down and didn't allow Niagara any good chances. The defensive group of Therien, Hall, Hart and Kristin Markiewicz only allowed one shot on Ashley Evans as they secured their fourth win of the season.

For the game, Niper led all players with four shots while six other Bulls recorded one shot. Dougall made one save in just over 75 minutes of action as she collected her fourth win and fifth shutout. Evans made one save in just over 14 minutes of emergency action between the pipes for UB.

The Bulls have not allowed a goal in 470 minutes of action so far this season, the second longest streak in program history. The Bulls defeated all three Big Four Rivals for the first time since the 2000 season.

Following the match, Hall was awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after a great game both defensively and offensively, notching her first career game-winning goal in the process.

When asked about Hall's performance on Sunday night, Coach Burke said "Jackie's efforts on both ends of the field were contagious tonight and helped seal the win for us."

PLAYER OF THE MATCH (Through five games)
St. Bonaventure – Jackie Hall 
Canisius - Angel Hart 
Duquesne – Sophie Therien
Drexel – Courtney Mann
Niagara – Jackie Hall

The Bulls will return to action on Friday at 4:00 pm as they will travel to take on the nationally-ranked Virginia Tech Hookies.