Concluding their regular season with two shutout losses doesn't help the confidence of UB's men's soccer team, who will be going into the Mid-American Conference tournament with a 1-11-3 record (0-6-0 MAC).
The Bulls lost a game 2-0 at the University of Kentucky (11-4-0, 5-0-0 MAC) on Friday, as the Wildcats put their undefeated MAC record on the line and came up big on Senior Night.
Kentucky controlled the ball most of the first half and they scored on their first shot when Riley O'Neill found the net after a pass between two UB defenders put the forward in prime scoring position. The goal came just eight minutes into the game from 3-yards out to put Kentucky up 1-0.
"I thought that we out shot them and out played them," said head coach John Astudillo. "We just got a little unlucky. To my great surprise they reacted beautifully (to going down early)."
Buffalo found themselves down 2-0 a short time later when Kentucky, on just their fourth shot, added an insurance goal. Thomas Senecal headed Jamal Shteiwi's free kick past UB goalkeeper Chris Vavrina in the 24th minute.
After recording no shots on goal in the first half, UB's forwards Mirnes Biscevic and Erik Jaanimagi made sure they didn't go down without at least some type of fight, as each recorded a shot. Greg Galemore led UB with two shots. Kentucky goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, despite playing without his top two defensemen, recorded his seventh shutout of the season.
Shut Out Once Again
Having little time to regroup from the disheartening loss, the Bulls found themselves matched up versus Northern Illinois at their home in Illinois on Sunday.
The result of their regular season finale was another 2-0 loss.
The Huskies (3-11-2, 2-3-0 MAC) scored in the 20th minute on a goal from Bernhard Hagevik. The goal came off a corner kick from Kevin Woerner. The freshman notched a goal of his own with ten minutes remaining, which was his first collegiate goal.
For the second straight game Vavrina gave up goals on very few shots from the opponent. Northern Illinois had just six shots on goal compared to UB's four shots.
"We are not having enough scoring chances," said Astudillo. "Not only do we need to increase the quality of goals scored but the number of opportunities."
Forwards Dave Pidgeon and Ross Tauchert recorded three shots each for UB.
The Bulls will face an opponent yet to be determined when the MAC Tournament begins on November 7 in Bowling Green, Ohio.
"We have to train to make sure we get many more scoring opportunities," said Astudillo. "From those we need to convert those to goals."
