MAC East Title On The Line As Bulls Head To Akron On Thursday Afternoon
10/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY - Seeking their second straight Mid-American Conference East division championship, the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York women's soccer team closes out their regular season on Thursday at 3:00 pm on the road at Akron.
The Bulls battle the Zips in the regular season finale with hopes of hosting a home MAC Tournament quarterfinal match on Sunday. With a win, the Bulls would clinch the three seed in the tournament and host the sixth place finisher. A win would also secure the MAC East championship for the Bulls, becoming the first women's team in UB history to earn back-to-back MAC East titles.
Offensively UB has had a spread out attack this season with three players scoring in double figures so far this season led by senior Kassidy Kidd who has a team-high five goals and five assists for 15 points. Sophomore Julia Benati had been impressive all season long for the Bulls as she is tied for the team-lead with five goals and three assists for 13 points while junior Celina Carrero is hitting her stride at the right time for UB, notching three goals and four assists for 10 points over her last eight matches. Redshirt freshman Carissima Cutrona has been a consistent performer as she is tied for the team-lead with five assists and has added two goals for the Bulls.
On the defensive end of the field, the Bulls are led by reigning third team All-American Jackie Hall and team captain Kristin Markiewicz who have completely shutdown teams with their great play in the middle for UB. Hall and Markiewicz are joined by junior Angel Hart and Freshman Brianna Shingary who have each started all 18 matches for the Bulls and helped UB preserve a 0.74 goals-against average this season.
In goal, Laura Dougall has continued her stellar play as she owns a 10-6-2 record to go along with a 0.75 goals-against average, a .868 save percentage and eight shutouts. The sophomore has already etched her name all over the UB record book as she is tied for the program record of 21 career shutouts and she ranks third in all-time wins with 26 career victories.
Akron enters Thursday's match with a 6-11-1 overall record and a 3-6-0 MAC record while dropping four of their last five matches. The Zips are led by Sarah Sivic who has started all 18 matches and has notched a team-high six goals and four assists for 16 points. Katie George ranks second on the team with five goals for 10 points while Raechel Eck and Karin Norman each have two goals on the year. In goal, Annabelle Hegeman owns a 1.76 goals-against average in 17 starts while earning two cleansheets.
The Zips hold the all-time series advantage over the Bulls with a 8-6-0 record. The Bulls defeated Akron, 2-1, in double overtime a season ago behind a Jackie Hall game-winning goal in the 102nd minute of play off of a Celina Carrero assist.
