Big Wins Keep Women's Soccer In Playoff Hunt

The UB women's soccer team kept their playoff hopes alive this weekend with key victories against Ohio and Marshall.

The Bulls took on last place Marshall (3-11-3 overall, 0-10-1 MAC) on Friday night at RAC Field and recorded a crucial 2-1 victory.

Buffalo (6-11-1, 5-6-1 MAC) needed at least a win and a tie this weekend to have a chance at making the playoffs. Their two wins place them in the eighth and last playoff spot in the MAC.

They need Bowling Green and Ohio to play to a tie in their game Thursday to avoid either team passing Buffalo for the eighth spot.

Senior forward Arielle Korczykowski returned to the field for the Bulls Friday night after missing seven games with an injury.

"It's good to be back," Korczykowski reported.

The senior made a substantial contribution to the UB victory by playing aggressive offense and scoring one of the team's two goals.

"It felt good," Korczykowski said of her contribution. "It helped to get my confidence back and to get one for the team."

Senior Lindsay Szafranski scored the second goal of the game for the Bulls off an assist from senior Jenny Dannecker to clench the victory for UB with only 12 minutes left.

However, fierce competition and uncharacteristic offensive play by both teams overshadowed Buffalo's domination of the ball. In a game marked by physical play, five yellow cards and 26 fouls were called.

With a minute remaining in the game, a yellow card came back to haunt the Bulls as Kassie Hoffman took a direct kick on the goal for Marshall and it snuck past UB goaltender Anna-Lesa Calvert.

"We knew it was going to be physical. It is two teams, one is fighting for a spot in the playoffs, the other has nothing to lose," said head coach Jean Tassy. "So if we came out and refuse to play physical, then we're playing their game."

On Saturday the team played arguably the best game of their season in a 2-0 win over reigning MAC champion Ohio. Buffalo came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders and dominated both sides of the ball with an early goal to take the lead. The Bulls maintained their lead thanks to an outstanding defensive effort.

Things were looking up for Buffalo from the beginning when junior Erica Mincher fired a shot across Ohio's goal box to junior Natlia Crofut who kicked it in for the lead.

Only eight minutes following the first goal, senior Arielle Korczykowski assisted a second goal with a pass to senior Jennifer Rounds who completed a 25-yard shot on goal.

With the first half lead, Buffalo looked to preserve the shutout with strong defensive play. Bulls goaltender Anna-Lesa Calvert prevented Ohio from coming away with a point with 13 saves in the game.

Calvert made many impressive saves throughout the game but none so much as with 20 minutes left in the game when she dove to stop a shot on the right side from Ohio's top scorer Horvath.

"I think defensively as a team we played really well today," Calvert said. "Our defenders didn't give up a lot of shots which I think allowed me to be more ready for any shots they were able to take."