On the strength of a solid first half, the men's soccer team defeated St. Francis University 2-1 Friday night to finish their regular season unbeaten in their final four games.
The Bulls' final regular season record stands at 8-6-2 (2-3-1 in the MAC) and they will be the fourth seed for the MAC Tournament at Akron next Saturday.
Friday night the Bulls executed a nearly flawless first half, connecting on two shots, scored by freshman Justin Higgins and sophomore Patrick Beckley respectively, to push UB ahead and ultimately put the game out of reach. Throughout the entire regular season, the Bulls have gone undefeated when they scored two or more goals during a game. Friday night was no exception.
"I think tonight was the best first half we've played all season," observed UB Head Coach John Astudillo. "We tried to create the least amount of set plays for them to run."
UB opened the scoring with a goal less than seven minutes into the game, as Beckley delivered a cross to Higgins who knocked the ball into the net while the goalkeeper was caught out of position. Junior Jenton Esworthy also received an assist on the play on his initial feed to Beckley.
Buffalo added to their lead midway through the first half on another offensive play by Beckley, who scored off a rebound from freshmen Jeff Martinko's shot. This was Martinko's second assist in as many games, while Beckley finished the day with a goal and an assist.
St Francis scored their lone goal off a corner kick that wasn't cleared properly by the Bulls. The ball slipped in off the corner and Matt Rosenfeld was given two point-blank shots, which UB sophomore goalkeeper Chris Vavrina stopped, before Rosenfeld got his own rebound and brought the score to 2-1.
The Bulls defense tightened for the rest of the game, however, and did not allow St. Francis to get any closer. UB countered effectively on each of the subsequent corner kicks and breakaways.
"We had some great defensive play from [Mike] Peplinski, Esworthy and [Matt] Yeates," said Astudillo. "Our back three really held them."
Buffalo out-shot St. Francis 10-7, with seven of their shots coming in the first half. The Bulls also possessed superior speed in the game, as St. Francis was unable to pass or clear the ball out effectively in the opening stanza.
In goal, Vavrina got the start in order to rest junior Brian Wozniak for the tournament. However, he was pulled in the second half in favor of Wozniak soon after Rosenfend's goal.
Astudillo said the decision to pull Vavrina was part of the UB game plan prior to the contest.
"It was something we had planned from the beginning," he said. "[Vavrina] did his job, but we wanted to close with Wozniak."
The Bulls will get six days of rest before they travel to Akron for the MAC Tournament, which begins Nov. 11. They will play Bowling Green University, who defeated Western Michigan on Sunday to take the fifth seed.
"With Bowling Green we felt it was a bad call that had us play the entire second half a man down," said Astudillo on the Bulls' prior loss to the Falcons. "We're going to have to be a whole heck of a lot more careful."
Although they are only the fourth seed, the Bulls have an opportunity to capture the MAC title, as this year's tournament has no clear dominant team.
"It's set up so that any team can win it," Esworthy said. "We have to come out to play."
