On Saturday, the men's soccer team headed into their match against Bowling Green with a 'W' on their mind.
When the last whistle blew, the Bulls achieved that victory.
The Bulls (11-3-3, 3-1-1 Mid-American Conference) defeated the Falcons (4-12-1, 0-6-0 MAC) 2-0 in Bowling Green. The victory was the Bulls' ninth shutout of the season.
The first of Buffalo's two goals was scored in the 38th minute as junior midfielder Alex Marrello kicked an unassisted ball past Falcon goalkeeper Paul Shoemaker. In the 63rd minute, senior forward Lee Catchpole passed the ball to senior midfielder Eric Johnson, who got another ball past Shoemaker.
The victory was the eighth shutout for senior goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. He had four saves in the match.
Head coach John Astudillo feels that with consistent hard work, the Bulls have been able to maintain a winning record throughout the regular season. He says that with the season coming to an end, the Bulls are feeling confident in competing against the top teams in the nation.
"On the tactical side, we have learned to play with some of the better teams," Astudillo said. "If we had to play any of the top three teams in the nation, we would be able to compete with them."
In addition, the Bulls have surpassed the 10-win mark, something they have not reached the past two seasons.
"We have been able to accomplish quite a bit on the win-loss record," Astudillo said.
Astudillo attributes their great season to immediately making an impact when the season began.
"One of the strengths we had, was we had a terrifically busy September," he said. "We did it, and we did it successfully. We played strong our first 11 games and the best thing is that our second 11 were just as good."
Astudillo believes that it is very apparent that the men have worked extremely hard when looking at the standings. He says they have always responded to anything the coaching staff has asked of them.
The Bulls are now preparing for their final regular season game. With the statistics to prove their power on the field, the Bulls are excited to continue their productive season and strive to become the best of the conference, according to Astudillo.
"For Tuesday, we have to make some adjustments in our defense in response to Hartwick," Astudillo said. "Offensively, however we have a lot of things planed for them because we don't want to play a defensive game, but we want to be practical on the offense. We want to force them to do what we want to do on their side."
With their victory against Bowling Green under their belt, the Bulls are now focusing on their last regular season game before the MAC Tournament. Hartwick currently stands in their way.
The match, taking place in Oneonta, is set to begin Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
