Opportunity after opportunity slipped away along with the minutes on the clock Saturday at UB Stadium.
The men's soccer team lost their match against the Hartwick Hawks Saturday afternoon after jumping out to a quick lead. The Bulls were unable to hold on against a tough Hawks squad, dropping the last game in their Mid-American Conference schedule by a score of 2-1.
A fast start gave the Bulls an early 1-0 lead when sophomore midfielder Justin Fredsell scored in the tenth minute of the contest. This was Fredsell's first goal of his young career at Buffalo and helped his team gain some momentum at the beginning of the match. From that point on however, the Bulls failed to put together an offensive attack that would end in a goal for the home team.
In the 40th minute of the match, Hartwick was able to even the score at one apiece. Hartwick's Austin McCann was able to slip the ball into the back of the net, tying the game and stealing a lead that the Bulls were unable to take back the rest of the afternoon.
The Bulls defense failed to stop Hartwick again in the 73rd minute of the contest. Hartwick's John Paul Boyle shot the ball past senior goalkeeper Daniel Bell.
Bell had a number of nice saves throughout the match, but it would prove to not be enough to overcome Hartwick's attack and eventual victory.
The Bulls had their opportunities at multiple points throughout the rest of the match. Mounting various attacks that nearly ended goals, Buffalo made gaining a victory on the road as difficult as possible for the Hawks. In the 42nd minute, freshman midfielder Jimmy Eichas came close to giving the lead back to his home team. However, Hartwick's goaltender Jeremy Vuolo stopped his shot short of the net and maintained the 1-1 deadlock going into halftime.
At the beginning of the second half, the Bulls came out strong with an early scoring chance. This attack once again came from Fredsell in the 53rd minute; however he was unable to complete the play and was stopped short by Vuolo.
In the very next minute after Hartwick's second goal, sophomore forward Dan Bulley came close to answering the Hawks' goal with one of his own. However, once again Vuolo was able to make an impressive save that denied the Bulls a chance to tie the match in the second half.
With the loss, the Bulls dropped their record to 9-5-2 overall for the season while Hartwick was able to boost their record to 5-4-6. The Bulls will take the field at UB Stadium for one last time on senior night Wednesday, Nov. 7 for their regular season finale. This time, they will be taking on cross-town rival Canisius College at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
