Bulls Earn Hard Fought Tie At UTRGV, 1-1

Friday, September 4

8:32 pm

University at Buffalo

3-0-1

UT Rio Grande Valley

1-0-1

OT 1

OT 2

Buffalo

UTRGV

Bulls Earn Hard Fought Tie At UTRGV, 1-1

9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

EDINBURG, TX - The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York men's soccer team (3-0-1, 0-0-0 MAC) remained unbeaten on the season on Friday night as they tied the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1-1. Russell Cicerone earned the lone UB goal with a penalty kick marker in the fifth minute of action.

The Basics

Score: Buffalo 1, UTRGV 1
Goal Scorer: Russell Cicerone (3)
Records: Buffalo (3-0-1), UTRGV (1-0-1)
Location: Soccer Complex – Edinburg, TX
Crowd: 880
The Short Story: The Bulls stayed unbeaten, 3-0-1, with the 1-1 tie at UTRGV, their best start to a season since the 2008 campaign. Russell Cicerone recorded the lone UB goal, his third straight match with a goal for the Bulls, the longest streak of his career.

Starting Lineups

Buffalo: Alec Fisher, Daniel Cramarossa, Fox Slotemaker, David Enstrom, Russell Cicerone, Braden Culver, Marcus Hanson, Nick Forrester, Scott Done, Braden Scales, Cameron Hogg
UTRGV: Leo Castillo, Archie Massen, Markus Bjors, Rico Laitinen, Juanito Garcia, Isidro Martinez, Raul Fierro, Sami Tittanen, Olli Tynkkynen, Sergio Cavazos

How It Happened

The Bulls jumped out to an early lead in just the fifth minute of action as Marcus Hanson was dragged down in the box, giving the Bulls a penalty kick. On the ensuing PK, Russell Cicerone made it look easy as he beat the UTRGV goalkeeper to give UB the 1-0 lead. The goal was Cicerone's third of the season.
The Bulls continued to pressure the Vaqueros after the opening goal as Scott Doney and Russell Cicerone were each denied opportunities to make the score 2-0.
The Bulls dominated play in the opening 45 minutes, holding the 8-4 advantage in shots.
The Vaqueros came out strong in the second half as they were able to notch their lone goal of the match in the 61^st minute. Isidro Martinez took a feed from Alex Ochoa and buried the ball in the back of the net to tie the game at one.
After some back-and-forth play, Russell Cicerone was denied his chance to break the tie in the 87^th minute as his hard low shot was turned away by the UTRGV keeper.
In the 89^th minute, UTRGV almost notched the game-winner but the ball went just over the cross bar to send the match to overtime. UB's first overtime match of the season.
In the first overtime, UTRGV held the majority of play as Cameron Hogg came up with a pair of monster saves to keep the game knotted at one.
Dominating the second overtime, UTRGV had their best chance to win the match in the 108^th minute of play as they got a forward in behind the UB defense but Alec Fisher came roaring back into the play to block away the would be game-winner, helping UB earn the tie.

Inside The Numbers

The Bulls improve to 3-0-1 with the tie on Friday night. It is the best start to a season since the 2008 season for the Bulls. The match was UB's first overtime match of the season.
With his goal tonight, Russell Cicerone moves into sole possession of 9^th place on the all-time scoring list with 19 career goals.
Russell Cicerone now has six points in his last two matches, two goals and two assists. He has also notched a goal in three straight matches, the longest streak of his career.
The Bulls held the 14-11 edge in shots at the end of regulation while UTRGV had the 8-5 lead in shots in the overtimes, making the shot total even, 19-19 for the match.
Cicerone led the Bulls with a season-high seven shots on the night.
The Bulls had five players with at least two shots in the contest including three that had at least three.
Cicerone's goal in the fifth minute of play was the fastest goal the Bulls have scored this season.
Cameron Hogg made four saves in the tie.
UTRGV held the 4-2 edge in corner kicks.
It was 92 degrees at game time, the hottest game the Bulls have played in this season.

What They Are Saying

Head coach Stu Riddle: "It was a gritty performance from us against a very well coached UTRGV side tonight," stated Riddle. "We have to take a lot out of grinding out a result away from home, in extreme heat and in front of an electric crowd."

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