Following a strong regular season in the Mid-American Conference, the men's soccer team was looking to make some noise against a familiar foe in the opening round of the MAC tournament.
However, the Bulls' (8-8-2, 3-3-1 MAC) season came to an abrupt end Friday night as they were defeated by Northern Illinois (13-5-0, 5-2 MAC), 1-0, in the semifinal round of the MAC tournament played at the University of Akron's FirstEnergy Stadium.
This was a rematch of a hotly contested game played earlier in the season, as the Bulls were able to upset the then-18th-ranked Huskies, 2-1 on the road in overtime. In that game, freshman defender Lucas Fedler scored the game-winning goal in the 108th minute.
This game was eerily similar to that Oct. 1 matchup. The Bulls were largely outshot by the Huskies, 16-4, just like in the previous game in which they were outshot 19-6. However, the Bulls were able to capitalize on the chances that they did have in that first game, something that wasn't done on Friday.
"We possessed the ball pretty well," said interim head coach David Hesch. "We just couldn't finish inside our end. We had shots right in front of the goal and we didn't make them."
Buffalo played virtually mistake-free soccer, but the one mistake it made came back to hurt them. After going on the counter attack, the Bulls were sloppy with ball handling on a rush, leading to a turnover deep in Huskies territory. That led to Northern Illinois midfielder Gael Rivera taking a shot on goal from the right side of the field. That shot was just a little too strong for junior goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi, as it went off his hands and trickled in for the goal. The tally, scored in the 63rd minute, proved to be the difference.
Despite the goal, Hesch was happy with the effort on the defensive end.
"They have three to four guys up front that like to isolate you, put you in one-on-one situations and take advantage, and I think our guys did a great job," Hesch said. "[Junior midfielder] Risto Latti played one of the best games I've ever seen him play on defense…It was unfortunate, it was one of the best goals in the world, and I am definitely upset that we lost this game."
The loss marks the end of a great season by the Bulls, overcoming the losses of head coach John Astudillo and captain Anthony Johnson. The senior forward broke his leg in the second game of the season, but the Bulls were able to rally for a solid season, something Hesch of which Hesch was proud.
"We came along pretty well," Hesch said. "I demanded a lot out of these guys every single day. We had a tough schedule, had a lot of games packed into a short period of time, and these guys fought that. I think it was a great season."
This was also the last game for four seniors: Johnson, forward Andy Tiedt, midfielder John Ianni, and defenseman Nate Woods.
Tiedt came on strong for the Bulls this year, scoring five goals along with four assists. The forward from nearby Akron, NY has scored seven goals in the two years of service for the Bulls, after transferring from Binghamton University.
Ianni hasn't played this year but provided incredible leadership for the Bulls, something that will surely be hard to replace.
Woods, a native of England, led the Bulls' back line this season.
"The seniors I feel should hold their heads high [despite the loss]," Hesch said. "These guys put a lot of leadership and a lot of pressure on themselves all season long when nobody expected us to do anything. To make it this far, those guys deserve the bravado."
Hesch believes that the Bulls will rally next year like they did all this season.
"We only lose two guys," Hesch said. "So if we can fully replace those guys, I feel like we can be stronger than ever."
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