The UB men's soccer team nearly overcame unbelievable odds last weekend, playing Bowling Green scoreless for 90 minutes and four seconds while being shorthanded.
It was the 90th minute and fifth second that killed them.
Jon Hundley of Bowling Green scored an unassisted goal over 120 minutes into the game in the third overtime period to break a 0-0 deadlock and lift the Falcons over the Bulls 1-0. Friday was the second time this season that the Falcons went into the extra session to stop the Bulls.
"The goal came on a cross across the box and fell right in front of the kid's feet and he put it in," said UB junior defenseman Jason Seymour of Hundley's goal.
UB sophomore Mike Geller picked up a pair of yellow cards 1:12 apart that resulted in an ejection from the game just before the end of the first half. Geller's red card forced Buffalo to play a man down, and handcuffed the Bulls' offense.
"Well, he's a f-ing idiot," said UB goalkeeper Brian Wozniak.
"Towards the end of the first half, one of the kids tripped him and in retaliation he pushed the kid, and a minute and a half later he got a stupid call for an elbow," said Seymour.
Buffalo finishes the season with an 8-7-2 overall record (2-3-2 in the MAC).
"The team played very well," said UB Head Coach John Astudillo. "We had some close calls and put some heavy pressure on them in the second half. [Kevin] Pitra, [Matt] Yeates and Wozniak played terrific games. Everyone played with heart. It was a tough way to go out, but they left everything on the field."
Junior Brian Wozniak kept the Bulls in the game with another strong outing in goal, recording 10 saves in 135 minutes.
"There were a lot of shots on me, a lot of pressure, but I was up for it," Wozniak said of facing a man-down situation for the majority of the game. He finishes the season with seven wins and an average of just of 1.12 goals allowed per game.
Offensively, junior Mike Peplinski and freshman Mike Ash had three shots each to lead Buffalo. Bowling Green out-shot Buffalo 25-16, and held a 14-2 advantage in corner kicks. Wozniak's counterpart, David DeGraff, recorded 9 saves in goal.
Bowling Green advanced to the tournament semifinals, where they lost to the regular-season conference champion Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday. Kentucky moves on to the championship game where they will play the winner of the Marshall-Akron match.
"I think there is [a rivalry forming between Buffalo and Bowling Green]. They knocked us out of the tournament two years in a row," said sophomore forward Patrick Beckley. "We should be beating them as far as I'm concerned, so that just adds to it."
The loss marks the end of the Bulls season. They will gear up for next season, without three seniors: Pitra, Yeates and Bill Norberg.
"I'll miss the seniors. I've been playing three years with them, but we have a very solid team for next year, and some great team chemistry," said Seymour.
"I think they were a really good class. They were really great players, we were all really good friends," Beckley said.
