Still undefeated

The UB men's soccer team is off to its best start in 15 years. They remain undefeated after wining two games and taking home first-place honors in the 2005 Kick-Off Classic held at Georgia Southern University.

In game one, the Bulls (7-0-0) scored early and scored often, as they put a hurting on Centenary College (0-6-0) on Saturday in the first round of the tournament, defeating the Gents 7-0.

Led by the usual scoring feats of sophomore Lee Catchpole, who tallied two goals on the day, the Bulls out-shot the Gents by a 21-5 margin.

The Bulls jumped out to a quick lead when junior Brain Knapp fired a shot passed Centenary's keeper Donnie Henderson at the 6:42 mark. Knapp's goal, which was generated by a UB corner kick, marked his third of the season, all of which have been pivotal for the Bulls.

Senior Greg Galemore gave the Gents no time to recover, quickly putting the ball to the feet of Catchpole who scored the second goal of the contest just 23 seconds after the first. Rounding out the first half, junior Andrae Clarke put the ball in the net off from an assist from sophomore Shyle Braithwaite.

The Bulls continued to show that they are a strong finishing team by outdoing their first-half performance with a bombardment of four more goals in the second half. Emulating the leadership of Catchpole and Knapp, freshman Marc Stencel and junior Sola Abolaji earned their first career goals early in the half, scoring just two minutes apart.

Junior Braden Byler made the score an even six with seven-and-a-half minutes left to play. He broke loose for a one-on-one match-up with Henderson and beat the Gents' keeper for his first goal of the season.

Catchpole scored again four minutes later, topping off the Bulls' humiliation of Centenary.

Junior goaltender Dan Bell recorded his third shutout of the season, but the stat should really be attributed to the Bulls defense, which forced Bell to make only two saves on the day.

Sunday's championship game proved to be a bit more of a challenge for the Bulls as they downed the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (4-5-0) by a margin of 3-0.

Braithwaite and Clarke teamed up for the first goal of the contest as Clarke placed a perfect pass to the sharp-shooting forward Braithwaite, setting him up for a far-post opening.

Coming into the second half with a 1-0 lead, the Bulls continued to do what they have been successful with all season and ran the opposition into the ground.

At the 59:25 mark a Leatherneck foul resulted in a Bulls penalty kick. Senior defender Matt Stuczynsk took the kick and capitalized on the Western Illinois mistake, accumulating his third goal of the year and bringing the score to 2-0.

Catchpole added a late game insurance goal on an assist from Braithwaite with 12 minutes left to play. Catchpole's goal marked his third for the weekend and his sixth on the season. The British forward currently leads the Bulls in goals and in points for the season with 14.

The Bulls out-shot WIU 13-9 on the day. Between the pipes, Bell recorded another shutout tallying four saves for the match.

Catchpole and Braithwaite were honored with All-Tournament team selections, while Bell and senior Mwamba Johnson were highlighted for their defensive efforts.

The Bulls will look to continue their undefeated streak when they travel to Hamilton, N.Y. to take on the Colgate Raiders (3-0-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.