One advantage to hosting a tournament is that you have home-field advantage over every team. The women's soccer team looked to defend their territory this past weekend as the host squad for the UB Fall Classic. The Bulls started their tournament by facing University of Maine on Friday.
Buffalo played a hard physical game throughout the evening, but it was not enough to stop the Maine attack in rough weather. Maine's offense scored two goals in the first half and one in the second, handing the Bulls their third loss of the season this time by a score of 3-0.
Junior forward/midfielder Andrea Vescio had three shots on goal to lead the Bulls on Friday while junior goalkeeper Amy Coron recorded five saves.
The loss to Maine was a difficult one, and head coach Jean-A Tassy felt the team was not able to do what was necessary to win. The Bulls had only three shots on goal, compared to eight for Maine.
Toward the end of the contest junior forward Brooke McCalla was awarded a penalty kick, yet she failed to capitalize on the opportunity. After the disappointing 3-0 loss to the University of Maine, the Bulls looked to bounce back against the Vermont Catamounts on Sunday afternoon.
After starting the game about a half hour late due to the previous game's double overtime finish, the Bulls jumped out to an early lead when McCalla scored her third goal of the season. This goal put her in the team lead for goals with three, but this would change later in the game. The goal occurred just 11 minutes into the game. It was assisted by Vescio and sophomore defenseman Jennifer Mihok.
"I saw the ball in the air and I saw the keeper crashing for it," McCalla said. "I tried to somehow get my head on the ball to create a scoring opportunity."
Nobody was left waiting very long for the Bulls to score again as the next goal came only 10 minutes after the first. Senior forward Heidi Griffiths took a shot 15 feet out from the net that bounced off the crossbar and landed inside the goal posts. This goal marked her third goal of the season, tying her with McCalla for the team lead. Her unassisted goal gave the Bulls a 2-0 lead.
The second half was not heavily dominated by the Bulls like the first half was, as Vermont tacked on a goal with seven minutes left in the match. However, the goal ended up meaning little to the final outcome as the lead built in the first half proved to be enough. The Bulls held off the Catamounts' charge for a 2-1 victory.
McCalla felt that the Bulls learned from the loss to Maine. It provided the spark they needed to win on Sunday.
"I missed a penalty kick on Friday and that was just fuel for the fire." McCalla said. "We were much more focused because of the (previous) loss. We wanted to play harder."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
