Bulls Dominant in 3-0 Win Over Toledo

Thursday, October 19

Buffalo, NY

6:00pm

University at Buffalo

7-3-6, 4-2-3

Toledo

7-7-2, 4-4-1

Toledo

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Dominant in 3-0 Win Over Toledo

10/19/2023 8:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team dominated from start to finish in a 3-0 win over Toledo on Thursday night at UB Stadium in a game with big playoff implications. With the win, the Bulls improve to 7-3-6 overall and 4-2-3 in league play, leapfrogging the Rockets in the Mid-American Conference standings.

The Bulls came out strong to start the game with their first scoring chance coming in the fourth minute as Ashleigh Fortunate, making her first career start, went on a great run and ripped a shot in stride but Brielle Young made a great save to knock the ball out of play. On the ensuing corner kick, Ellie Simmons played a ball to Leah Wengender who slid a pass to Arianna Zumpano, and she utilized some fancy footwork and drilled a shot from point blank range but Young made a great save.

Later, in the seventh minute, Simmons found space and booted a ball up into the box to the head of Wengender but it somehow rolled just wide and out of play.

The teams traded possession for the middle part of the half, but UB was at it again in the 35^th minute as Olivia Bizzoni raced up the sideline and fired a shot on the run that curled hard to the top corner of the net but Young made a leaping save to punch the ball away. Buffalo had one last look in the final minute as Marissa Foster made a run up the right sideline and ripped a shot in stride, but it sailed off target and the game remained scoreless at the break.

Buffalo continued to attack to start the half as Bizzoni played a perfect ball to Zumpano in the box and she ripped a shot from point blank save and then Krohn followed with a great shot of her own, but Young made a pair of tough stops.

The Bulls finally broke through in the 70^th minute as Foster slid a pass through to Wengender at the top of the box and one-timed a shot into the bottom left corner of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.

UB added to their lead in the 82^nd minute as the Rockets tried to clear a ball but Maya Galko intercepted the pass and played a great ball up ahead to Zumpano who absolutely drilled a shot that curled under the crossbar to put UB up 2-0. Zumpano wasn't done as she recorded her second goal of the night less than two minutes later, finishing off assists by Krohn and Kaya Schultz, to secure the victory.

The Bulls outshot the Rockets 18-5, including a dominant 11-2 advantage in shots on goal and a 3-0 edge in corner kick opportunities. Senior Rebecca Winslow faced just two shots but saved them both, recording the fifth shutout of her Buffalo career while the UB backline earned their seventh clean sheet of the season. Krohn and Schultz were named Co-Players of the Game by the UB coaching staff for their efforts in the win.

"It was another game where we controlled possession, and at halftime, the players knew we just had to be more optimistic and take our chances and we did in the second half," said head coach Shawn Burke. "We have a must-win mentality right now with how close this conference is and how important every game is. I'm just really proud of the team and their mentality and the fact that even when they got one, they weren't satisfied. Great team win!"

Up next, Buffalo travels to Kalamazoo on Sunday, October 22 to take on the Western Michigan Broncos in their final regular season road contest of the season at 1pm.