The women's soccer team is in a different position this year than in years past, as the squad enters a crucial stretch this weekend with playoff positioning on the line.
The Bulls (9-4-3, 2-2-3 MAC) face the Mid-American Conference-leading Ohio Bobcats (7-8-1, 4-3-1 MAC) on Friday, followed by a matchup on Sunday against the Akron Zips (6-6-2, 3-3-2 MAC).
Buffalo currently controls its destiny in the MAC East Division, as they sit in fourth place. They have nine points, and they sit just four points behind division-leader Ohio.
The Bulls start their crucial weekend stretch with a Friday road game at Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats are coming off mixed results last weekend, as they lost 2-1 to the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (8-7, 3-5 MAC) and responded with a 2-0 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons (5-12, 2-6 MAC).
Offensively, Ohio is very similar to the Bulls in that they rely on many different players for scoring. They are led by forward Toye Famodu's five goals. Eight different Bobcats have scored a goal this year.
On defense, the Bobcats have given up their share of goals, as they have given up 19 on the year. Goalkeeper Mattie Liston has a save percentage of .832, but she was replaced before the Bobcats' game against the Falcons by Nicole Amari, who earned her first win and shutout of the season. Amari will most likely start in the game against Buffalo.
Like the Bobcats, the Zips are also coming off a mixed weekend, as they fell to Miami (OH) 3-0 on Sunday after beating the Falcons 2-1 on Friday. They come to Buffalo just a spot above the Bulls in the MAC East standings, sitting just two points ahead.
The Zips are another team that is very balanced offensively, as two players (Ashley Hughes and Rachel Phillip) share the team lead in goals scored with three. All together, five different Zips have scored at least two goals, and eight players have scored the team's 15 goals this season.
Defensively, the team gives up as many goals as it scores. Zips goalkeeper Jeny Wolbert has started 13 games on the year, and has 62 saves with a goal percentage of .816.
If Buffalo wins out, and Ohio fails to score a victory on Sunday against the Kent State Golden Flashes (10-6, 4-4 MAC), the Bulls will hold a share of first place going into the Oct. 27 finale against Kent State. To do this, Buffalo will need a flawless weekend from the defense and goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon.
The sophomore still leads the conference in saves (108), and is among the league leaders in save percentage (.900) and goals against average (.740). But the defense has only one shutout in the last five games, and she has allowed seven goals during this span.
On the flip side, there needs to be timely goals from the offense, as Buffalo has been unable to put teams away recently with the exception of the game against the Western Michigan Broncos (9-7, 5-3 MAC) on Oct. 9.
Friday's road game will begin at 3 p.m. Game time for the Sunday match at UB Stadium against Akron is noon.
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