UB defender Cheick Diarra booted a shot 40 yards out with thirty minutes left in the second half to put Buffalo on the board in the championship game against No. 22 Binghamton in the UB Fall Classic Monday afternoon.
Diarra's goal tied the game at one, a score that would withstand two overtimes, with Binghamton declared the tournament champion by virtue of having the better goal differential throughout the tournament.
"I didn't mean to score. I tried to cross the ball, but hey, it helped us tie the score, which turned out good, right?" said Diarra.
Binghamton, ranked 22nd in the nation by both the College Soccer News and NSCAA/adidas preseason poll, got on the board in the 29th minute when tournament Offensive MVP Bryan Arnault fired a shot past UB goalkeeper Daniel Bell to make the score 1-0.
"We needed to win more balls in the middle which is where we didn't win anything in the first half. I think we adjusted to that by bringing [Matt] Wilkinson in the middle to help win balls; we needed a little more communication in the back," said coach John Astudillo.
UB (2-0-1) had a chance to win in the second overtime when Bearcat goalkeeper Stefan Gonet came out of the goal to make a save, but missed the ball. With a wide-open goal, the Bulls appeared poised to take the game, when out of nowhere Graham Munro made a sliding kick save to keep the score tied at 1-1.
Bell, Diarra, defender Matt Stuczynski, defender Andrew Butler and forward Shyle Braithwaite represented Buffalo on the All-Tournament Team, with Bell named as the Tournament's defensive MVP.
The Bulls' next game is at Siena on Sunday at 1 p.m.
