The UB men's soccer team had their unbeaten streak snapped Wednesday afternoon when Niagara beat them 3-1.
The game was close until late in the second half when Kwame Oduro changed the momentum of the game in favor of Niagara. He netted the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute. Sasha Kaplun lofted a cross to a wide-open Oduro, who went airborne to bicycle kick it past goalkeeper Daniel Bell.
"We played very bad all around," said UB defender Cheick Diarra. "I was disappointed with our play, especially after that second goal was scored."
Niagara appeared to score first when Matt Stedman raced down the sidelines and cut back the ball to beat a UB defender. He was one on one with Bell and passed it across to Oduro who put it in. However, the goal was disallowed after the referee ruled the play was offside.
With his constant ball movement up the sidelines, Diarra helped to create many scoring chances for the Bulls in the first half.
"I was supposed to carry the ball up. I was able to do it productively throughout the first half," said Diarra. "I just hope on Friday we will play better in the second half."
Diarra started the play that led to the Bulls' opening goal. Brian Knapp put UB up 1-0 in the 35th minute with his second goal of the season. Knapp took the ball and launched a shot from around 20 yards out into the top right corner.
Niagara would tie it up four minutes later, as backup goalie Dan O'Shea used his leaping ability to out-jump everyone to put a header in the back of the net.
After the Purple Eagles' second goal things got rough on the field. Erik Jaanimagi was given a yellow card after getting knocked down and pushed around by a Niagara player. The incident as a whole appeared to disrupt whatever chance the Bulls had to try and tie the game.
"It wasn't smart to play physical late in the game," said Diarra. "A few players were losing their temper and they started cursing and the coach did not want us to do that. It's not something we want to do, especially when we are down one goal. We need to make smart decisions."
Stedman would end all chances for a comeback at the 83rd minute mark when he tallied an unassisted goal to seal the win for Niagara.
"We didn't play well together. Everyone was getting mad at each other. We were just out of our game," said Diarra. "I hope on Friday we can turn this around and get a win."
UB will try to bounce back from their first loss when they host Oneonta on Friday at RAC Field at 7 p.m.
