Bulls defeat local rival Canisius

After a three game slump, the Bulls licked their wounds against local rival Canisius, coming away with a 3-2 victory at UB Stadium on Friday.

Junior Heidi Griffiths made her return to the team after an injury that kept her out of the last two games. She made an immediate impact with an assist to freshman Caitlin Higgins in the tenth minute of the game.

Just over two minutes later, Griffiths scored a goal of her own. The goal came off of a cross by sophomore Brooke McCalla.

With a 2-goal lead Buffalo (3-4) appeared to be in control of the game. However, a corner kick in the 23rd minute set up a Canisius (2-6) goal by Rebecca Shupe to pull the Golden Griffins within one.

The Bulls took the 2-1 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"Our coaching staff found that we were somewhat flat and we needed to raise our level," said Bulls head coach Jean-A Tassy. "They needed to step up, and I told them that this is for pride, and they needed to play like they wanted it more than the other team."

Tassy's words of inspiration clearly worked as a motivated Buffalo team came out attacking in the second half. The Bulls had many early scoring opportunities. They had three corner kicks less than eight minutes into the half.

Higgins provided a two-goal cushion for the Bulls, scoring her second goal of the night and capping a three-point performance.

"I was just in the right place at the right time and finished the balls that my teammates gave me," Higgins said, whose two goals gave her three on the season.

Canisius fought back and cut the deficit to one at 3-2, in the 63rd minute of the match. Stephanie Karst snuck the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Amy Coron on the far post for the score.

In the closing minutes of the game, the Bulls committed two quick fouls and failed to connect on passes twice, which resulted in losing the ball out of bounds.

However, the defense kept the ball out of the net, and Canisius failed to convert again. Soon the rest of the Bulls recovered and the team held on for victory.

"I was just really excited to come back and pick up where I left off and step into the lineup," Griffiths said. "My teammates did a good job of helping me out. It was really a relief to get an assist and to get a goal to help my team win."

Senior Courtney MacVie was also pleased with the team's play.

"I thought our defense played really strong and we played compact," MacVie said. "We got the ball out of the back really fast and we stopped them."

The Bulls held the advantage in shots on goal 9-5. Their strong offensive output pleased Coach Tassy.

"We're scoring, we are creating opportunities," Tassy said. "It could have been a 5-2 ball game. Those opportunities to score are there, if we continue to that level, we'll feel confident in our play and as long as we outscore our opponent, that's fine."

Canisius was the last non-conference opponent the Bulls will face for a while. Its next game will begin a span of eight games in a row against Mid-American Conference opponents.

"I hope that we can play a lot quicker in the MAC because I know the girls are going to be stronger and faster," MacVie said. "Hopefully, we can get the ball out of the back fast and win every head ball."

Coach Tassy acknowledged that there are aspects of the game that the Bulls need to improve.

"I think for now we need to communicate a lot on the field," Tassy said. "We need to support each other. At times I think we do great, and at times I think we fall apart and we have to eliminate that. The MAC is so balanced that on any given day anyone can beat anyone else."

The Bulls will begin its MAC schedule on Friday when they travel to Miami (OH). The contest starts at 4 p.m.