Men's Soccer Opens Season On Friday Night Against Daemen At UB Stadium
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's soccer team opens up their 2016 campaign on Friday night at UB Stadium against the Daemen Wildcats. First kick is set for 7:00 pm and admission to the match is free.
The Bulls wrapped up a strong exhibition season on Monday night with a decisive 6-1 victory over Rochester to finish 2-0-1 through three matches. The Bulls also scored 12 goals in those three exhibition matches.
The Bulls return a total of nine starters from a team that made just their second MAC Championship game appearance in program history. The Bulls strong offensive attack is led by reigning MAC Player of the Year and team captain Russell Cicerone who finished last season with career-highs in goals (12), assists (8) and points (32). As a junior, he baceme the first player in program history to earn first team All-MAC honors in three straight seasons and just the second to win MAC Player of the Year. He currently sits in third place in program history in goals (28) and points (69) and ninth in assists (13).
Seniors Daniel Cramarossa, Braden Scales and Steven Stryker each return after strong junior campaigns. Cramarossa is a crafty midfielder that collected a career-high three goals and two assists last season while Scales finished with career-highs in goals (three), assists (five) and points (11) and Stryker broke out with two goals and four assists for eight points.
The Buffalo backline also returns all four starters from a season ago in which they allowed 1.05 goals against per game. The defense is led second team All-MAC selection from a season ago, Nick Forrester, who returns for his junior campaign looking for a MAC championship. Fox Slotemaker, Alec Fisher and David Enstrom join Forrester on the strong backline.
Buffalo also returns a pair of proven goalkeepers in Joseph Kuta and Cameron Hogg. Kuta earned the final nine starts of the season in 2015 and collected a 5-4-2 record to go along with a 0.87 goals-against average with three shutouts while Hogg owned a 3-3-2 record with a 1.18 goals-against average and one shutout.
The Daemen Wildcats are coming off of a tough season in 2015 in which they went 2-13-1 overall and 0-9-1 in conference action. The NCAA division II member Wildcats return 13 letter winners from a season ago and eight starters.
The Wildcats return their two leading scorers from a season ago in Kyle Tracy and Alex Reid. Tracy led the team as a freshman with five goals while Reid finished off his junior season with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Daemen also returns Justin Figler between the pipes in 2016 after he had a strong freshman season last year making 16 starts and owning a 2.81 goals-against average, .657 save percentage and one shutout.
After opening the season on Friday at home, the Bulls will travel to Big 4 foe Canisius on Sunday to defend the Big 4 Shield. Kickoff is slated for a 7:00 pm start on Sunday at the Demske Sports Complex.
