At the end of a season of highs and lows, the men's soccer team scored a big upset win over Northern Illinois in the first round of the MAC playoffs before bowing out with a loss to Akron in the second round this weekend.
On Friday afternoon, sixth-seeded Buffalo needed a big game and a victory over third-seeded Northern Illinois to advance to the second round of the MAC Tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich.
That's exactly what they got, as they defeated the Huskies, 2-1.
On Sunday afternoon, Buffalo faced off against the second-seeded Akron Zips. The Zips (11-4-3) were coming off of a first-round 1-0 victory against the winless Bowling Green Falcons (0-19).
The Bulls, attempting to reach the MAC championship game for the first time in school history, saw their season come to an end following a 4-1 loss to the Zips.
UB finishes the year with an 8-8-2 record.
The Bulls' win on Friday was led by a stellar two-goal performance from freshman British import Lee Catchpole, who came back from seven games on the injured list due to a foot injury.
Buffalo (8-7-2) won just its third postseason game since its inception into the MAC in 1998, and its first since 2000.
With a chance to catch an early lead, Buffalo and Catchpole took advantage of a NIU handball violation 9:14 into the game and scored on the ensuing penalty kick.
The Huskies (12-7) knotted the score at 1-1 in the 21st minute, with NIU senior midfielder Bruce Conrad capitalizing on a free kick attempt by junior midfielder Jose Alvarado, which was headed down by senior forward Bernard Hagevik.
Taking the same score into the last 20 minutes of the second half, the Bulls took their lead back as Catchpole struck again. He capitalized on a through-ball assist by fellow freshman Shyle Braithwathe. Catchpole was able to touch twine, lofting it over Huskies' goalkeeper Steve Goletz for the go-ahead goal, and a goal that proved to be game winner.
Even though he's only played ten games this season, Catchpole leads the team in both goals with five and points with 12. He is also the only Buffalo player in double digits for points.
Sophomore Bulls' goalkeeper Daniel Bell made four saves en route to his eighth win of the season.
But the Bulls could not carry their momentum into Sunday's game against Akron.
The Zips scored early in the first half of the extremely physical game, and never looked back. The lone goal for the Bulls came from Catchpole, who scored his third goal in the last two games. Senior midfielder Jeff Martinko was credited with the assist.
Five yellow cards were handed out to the Bulls in the contest, with senior defender Andrew Butler given a red card in the 72nd minute of the game.
Despite a hard hit to the core of the Bulls' lineup because of injury and suspension, the 2003 season saw the Bulls gain seven more victories than they recorded in 2002. Also, the eight wins tallied by UB this season marks the most victories in a single season since the Bulls' 2001 campaign.
With the victory, the Zips improve to 12-4-3 on the season and will host the 2004 MAC Championship game next weekend against Western Michigan. The Broncos enter the championship game via a 1-0 victory over first-seed Kentucky.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
