Turner tallies one in UB victory

If getting held scoreless for two straight games is a team illness, responding with a shutout is an excellent cure.

After scoring no goals against Niagara over a week ago in its home opener and coming up empty again in Friday's conference opener against Miami (Ohio), the UB women's soccer team (3-5-1 overall, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) relieved some pressure by defeating the Ball State Cardinals (8-2, 1-1) 1-0 on Sunday.

Losing to the RedHawks of Miami (3-3) in Friday's game continued a trend of atypical defeats for Buffalo, as Miami downed the Bulls 2-0, despite the Bulls' recording of more shots and corner kicks.

Lindsay Dunmead of the RedHawks scored in the 15th minute followed by Kathleen Vestica tacking on the second goal in the 27th minute for Miami. Although the Bulls were afforded many chances in the game, they were unable to capitalize.

"The girls need to play with a certain level of confidence," said head coach Jean-A. Tassy. "Due to the fact that we gave up two goals in a span of 12 minutes, their heads were down and that's a sign of youth. That's a sign of lack of confidence. All these things we addressed prior to the game against Ball State."

After Friday's disappointing loss, the soccer-mom stereotype was in full effect on Sunday as many of the team members' parents gathered to watch their daughters take on Ball State. Screams in reference to the referees' eyesight set the tone for a tough 90 minutes for both teams.

The only goal of the game came off a corner kick. Sophomore Kathleen Fage kicked the ball across the goal, placing it in possession of senior Natalia Crofut. Crofut then passed the ball to sophomore forward Ashley Turner who scored the first goal of her career, putting it in the back of the Cardinals' net less than ten minutes into the game.

"It felt really great," Turner said. "It was nice to put the team on top early in the game, giving us a chance to compete for the win. We did well controlling the ball in the middle, so the intensity level was pretty high."

A corner-kick goal is more possible than it is sometimes thought, according to Tassy.

"We have been concentrating on selling it to the players that a dead-ball situation is a good opportunity to score," Tassy said. "Those are opportunities for you to have a free go at the net. You can outsmart your opponent."

After Tuner early-game goal, the rest of the contest consisted of a struggle for possession and a number of missed chances to put Ball State away for good.

"Instead of going out and trying to get the second goal, we kind of sat on our lead a little bit and started getting comfortable," Tassy said. "Then before you know it we're fighting their rush and if we would just score another goal, the game is over."

Senior goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert got her first shutout of the year and is now just six saves short of earning 300 for her career. Only two other MAC goalies are part of the 300-save club.

"It's really more important for us to get the win. The records are part of the game but not really what anyone on the team pays much attention to," Calvert said. "The shutout was definitely a team effort. We've been working all year to get it and the midfield did an excellent job and the defense came through. It was a team shutout for sure."

This win is an important one for the Bulls as Ball State is regionally ranked. The Bulls will face two MAC opponents next weekend as they travel first to Eastern Michigan (3-6-1, 1-1 MAC) on Friday for a 3 p.m. game and then to Central Michigan (3-5-1, 2-0 MAC) on Sunday for a 1 p.m. start.