Women's Soccer Knocks Off Kent State For First MAC Win, 1-0

Sunday, September 27

12 pm

5-4-1 (1-1-0MAC)

Kent State

5-3-2 (1-1-0MAC)

Kent State

Buffalo

Women's Soccer Knocks Off Kent State For First MAC Win, 1-0

9/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York women's soccer team (5-4-1, 1-1-0 MAC) got back on track Sunday afternoon at UB Stadium as they picked up a convincing 1-0 victory over Kent State. Julia Benati scored the game-winning goal in the 28^th minute for the Bulls as they earned their first MAC win of the season.

The Basics

Score: Buffalo 1, Kent State 0
Buffalo Goal Scorer: Julia Benati (3)
Buffalo Assists: Kassidy Kidd (4), Carissima Cutrona (2)
Records: Buffalo (5-4-1, 1-1-0 MAC), Kent State (5-3-2, 1-1-0 MAC)
Location: UB Stadium – Buffalo, NY
Attendance: 286
The Short Story: The Bulls picked up their first conference victory of the season behind a Julia Benati first half goal and Laura Dougall's 18th career cleansheet. The Buffalo goalkeeper is now tied for fourth in program history with 21 career victories, 14 of which coming at UB Stadium.

Starting Lineups

Buffalo: Laura Dougall, Kristin Markiewicz, Angel Hart, Julia Benati, Jackie Hall, Dana Lytle, Moira Petrie, Celina Carrero, Rebecca Bramble, Brianna Shingary, Andrea Niper
Kent State: Ashleah McDonald, Madison Helterbran, Hayden Pascoe, Jaime Eiben, Paige Culver, Kristen Brots, Doni Capehart, Briana Bartolone, Abbie Lawson, Jenna Hellstrom, Brittany Maisano

How It Happened

After a slow start offensively for both sides, Kent State was able to record the first shot of the match in the 15^th minute as Jenna Hellstrom blasted a shot just high of the UB goal.
In the 25^th minute, the UB offense produced a pair of nice chances but both of Rebecca Brambles point blank shots were blocked by Kent State defenders, preventing the score.
Finally in the 28^th minute UB was awarded with a much needed goal. Kassidy Kidd started the play with a perfect long pass to Carissima Cutrona who dropped off the pass to Julia Benati who ripped the shot into the upper right corner of the net for her third goal on the year.
Kent State tried responding right away but Doni Capehart saw her shot saved by Laura Dougall.
With two minutes remaining in the first half, Kent State had a great opportunity to tie the game but Morgan Williams' hard shot was turned away by Laura Dougall, sending the teams to the locker rooms.
In the 56^th minute, Laura Dougall made her best stop of the day as Jenna Hellstrom came in free on the UB keeper but her shot attempt was swallowed up.
UB almost made the score 2-0 in the 61^st minute but Celina Carrero's attempt went just wide of the open goal after a great feed from Carissima Cutrona.
A couple minutes later Carissima Cutrona tried a shot of her own but her blast went just over the top of the net.
Jenna Hellstrom had the final two chances to tie the game in the final 18 minutes for the Golden Flashes but her shot in the 72^nd minute went just over the cross bar and her shot in the 84^th minute was blocked away by Jackie Hall.
UB held off the Kent State late surge to earn the cleansheeet.

Inside The Numbers

With the win, the Bulls improved to 14-1-2 at UB Stadium over the past two seasons with 10 cleansheets in those 16 matches.
Sophomore goalkeeper Laura Dougall moved into a tie for fourth place on UB's all-time wins list with her 21^st career win on Sunday.
Laura Dougall also has 18 career shutouts for the Bulls, just two shy of second place on the team's all-time list.
With her fourth assist of the season, Kassidy Kidd has now tied a career-high for assists in a season. The senior has nine career assists, one shy of 15^th place on the Bulls all-time assists list.
With her third goal of the season on Sunday, sophomore Julia Benati tied a career-high for goals in a season.
Kent State held the 13-7 edge in shots for the contest as well as the 3-1 edge in corners.
Rebecca Bramble and Carissima Cutrona each finished with a team-high two shots in the win.
Freshman Rebecca Bramble made her first career start at forward on Sunday.
In goal, Laura Dougall made five saves, marking her sixth game this season making at least five saves.
Jenna Hellstrom led all players with six shots in the loss for Kent State.

Player of the Match
Following the match, Carissima Cutrona was awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after a great match offensively. Cutrona created chances all over the field and finished with her second assist of the season in the win.

Saint Joseph's – Jackie Hall
Drexel – Kristin Markiewicz
Canisius – Julia Benati
St. Bonaventure – Kassidy Kidd
Syracuse – Dana Lytle
Niagara – Rebecca Bramble
Binghamton – Kassidy Kidd / Celina Carrero
#7 West Virginia – Laura Dougall
Ohio – Brianna Shingary
Kent State – Carissima Cutrona

Up Next

The Bulls will hit the road for a pair of MAC contests starting on Friday, October 2 as they play at Eastern Michigan at 4:00 pm. UB returns to the pitch on Sunday at Bowling Green for a 1:00 pm kickoff.