On Sunday, Buffalo's men's soccer team (2-1-0 MAC, 5-5-1) returned home after over a month of road games to put on a show for their home crowd. UB faced struggling Western Michigan, (1-2-0 MAC, 2-6-2) on a windy RAC field and to put it lightly, dominated their MAC rival, shutting them out 3-0.
" The key to this game was balance on all ends of the field, we played hard on the attack, our young guns are really beginning to contribute, and this shutout is the result," said Head Coach John Astudillo.
During the first half, play went back and forth, and neither team could take the advantage. It was truly anyone's game. Then, at 39:44, UB defender Michael Battiste assisted forward Patrick Beckley on a goal that gave the Bulls a lead they would never give up.
The second half was a different game. Instead of just holding on to their lead, Buffalo capitalized on it, scoring two more unanswered goals. First, at 65:22, midfielder Geoff Thompson put in his fifth goal of the season on an assist by team captain Dave Pidgeon. Then, at 77:20, freshman forward Greg Galemore put the game away on an assist by midfielder Vinny Rundo.
The Broncos earned nine corner kicks to Buffalo's two but were exposed as a much weaker squad that was no match for UB's strong passing game and scoring attack. As the game wound down, Western Michigan wore their frustrations on their sleeves, getting charged with two yellow cards in the final 15 minutes.
Buffalo goalkeeper Brian Wozniak landed his second shutout of the season, making two saves.
" We finally exploded, coming together and doing what we had to do to dominate," said Wozniak. "At the end of the game Western Michigan got aggravated with the way they were playing and acted in an un-sportsmanlike manner. In situations like that you have to play smart, cause those yellow cards will carry over to the next game, and that's something nobody wants."
UB looks to extend their two-game winning streak, hosting MAC rival Northern Illinois (2-9-0,0-0-0 MAC) this Friday at 7:00 p.m. on RAC field.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
