Though the saying 'defense wins games' might be true, the success of a good offense cannot be overlooked.
The women's soccer team learned this lesson last Sunday as it took on Mid-American Conference foe Northern Illinois.
With a balanced effort on both sides of the ball, the Bulls (3-10-1, 2-3-1 MAC) won their second-straight game, knocking off the Huskies (4-8-2, 0-2-4 MAC), 2-0, at UB Stadium.
'I knew it was going to come sooner or later and our team really needed this,' said freshman striker Stephanie Velez, in a press release. 'This weekend just proves that we're not a bad team. Our results haven't been showing how our team actually plays. It's just a really great feeling to finally see some wins.'
Head coach Michael Thomas believes the team's recent success was due to offensive and defensive balance and energy.
'The team brought great energy out on to the field,' Thomas said. 'It's always tough to bring that energy to a Sunday game after a difficult 90 minutes and battling on Friday.'
With neither team giving up more than one goal in each of its wins, the game was expected to be a defensive struggle.
It started as such until the Bulls' offense broke through in the seventh minute.
After a Northern Illinois foul, sophomore defender Angela Nicholas struck the ensuing free kick. The ball was passed to Velez, who caught the Huskies' goalie off the net and scored the team's first goal at the 6:45 mark.
Velez struck again early in the second half. Velez scored a breakaway goal off a pass from sophomore attacker Aubrey Stahl in the 47th minute to double the margin.
The Bulls put a total of 11 shots on goal, the team's second most shot attempts in a game this season. The last two games mark the only multi-goal games for Buffalo's offense this season.
'Right now we're starting to find that balance,' Thomas said. 'It's early in the season and we have a lot of young players playing [attack]. They were playing pretty well, but struggling to find the back of the net … and the defense has been [strong] for us all year long.'
The win gave the Bulls their first winning streak of the season after losses to both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan the previous weekend.
Senior goalkeeper Amy Coron kept the Huskies off the board and helped Buffalo accomplish its first winning streak since the Bulls won their first four games in 2008. She finished with eight saves and is now eight away from breaking Buffalo's all-time record for most career saves, which Nicole Pittaro set in 1995 with 414 saves.
The rest of the team's disciplined play also helped Coron. They were only called for two fouls, compared to NIU's seven fouls.
In addition, the Bulls held the Huskies to 13 shots on goal. One of the defensive highlights occurred when sophomore defender Lauren Crawford deflected a shot by a Northern Illinois attacker, preserving the shutout.
Senior Jennifer Mihok and junior Nina Cornell aided Crawford on defense. Thomas felt the duo's play has been very consistent.
'The defense has been consistently good all season,' Thomas said. 'I just think they have very good chances.'
Thomas also regards the new streak as a sign that the team is making progress toward consistent success.
'[The team] has been closer and closer,' Thomas said. 'What we're trying to do is just keep moving in a forward direction and the goal is to come up and not ever make the same mistakes twice. Last weekend were some big steps forward. Now we just have to make sure that we to continue to move in that direction.'
The soccer team looks to continue its win streak as it visits Toledo on Friday. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
