Bulls to play Penn State in NCAA Tournament

The Buffalo women’s soccer team sat in the UB Stadium meeting room Monday in anticipation to find out what team the Bulls would be playing in their first NCAA Tournament.

The Bulls had received their highest national ranking (No. 32) and first Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Sunday. The championship gave the Bulls an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, so the players in the room knew they’d be playing more soccer. The only question that remained was where.

Buffalo (16-2-3, 12-0-2 MAC) was awarded a No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 seed Penn State (17-3, 12-1 Big Ten Conference) Friday at 7:30 p.m. in State College, Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 6 in the country.

“I’m proud of coach Burke, the staff, and their players,” said Athletic Director Danny White. “We haven’t enjoyed a lot of success with just four conference championships in school history. In efforts of building a championship culture here, these athletes and coaches are leading the charge.”

Head coach Shawn Burke expressed the team’s desire to play and continue to make program history.

“I guess we’re going big right off the bat,” Burke said. “This is what the team wanted. There’s a reason all of these teams are in the tournament, all of them are quality teams. We’ve been setting history and breaking school records all season, so this is another opportunity for us to do so.”

Senior midfielder Courtney Mann was still in shock about the team’s run to the NCAA Tournament. Buffalo made the MAC Tournament only once and won eight MAC games in Mann’s first three seasons.

“It’s one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen,” Mann said. “Being a local kid, it’s what you dream about. I’m still pinching myself a bit, so it’s pretty hard to describe how it feels right now. I’m just excited for my team right now.”

The Bulls played just one team in NCAA Tournament field this season – Virginia Tech. Buffalo lost 5-0 to the Hokies – currently ranked No. 19 in the country – Sept. 12.

Burke said the Virginia Tech loss was a learning experience and will help Buffalo against another top team in Penn State Friday.

“Our focus from day one is what we do,” Burke said. “Obviously, Penn State is going to bring us a whole lot of challenges. We played Virginia Tech earlier in the season, so we know what caliber they will bring. We just have to play our game and continue to improve as a team.”

Junior defender and MAC Defensive Player of the Year Jackie Hall said Buffalo changed as a team after the loss to the Hokies.

“Against Virginia Tech, we learned that we had just to keep trying,” Hall said. “The confidence was big on this team after that. We scored goals and we had goals scored on us and still won. In the past, I worried about our scoring, but now, I have full confidence in our offense and we can score in many ways.”

Buffalo has gone 14-1-2, including an undefeated MAC season, and allowed just eight goals since the 5-0 loss to Virginia Tech.

Behind Hall and freshman goalkeeper Laura Dougall’s program-record 12 shutouts, the Bulls’ defense has allowed just 13 goals all season. Penn State’s defense has been equally impressive, as it has allowed just 14 goals this season. The Nittany Lions seem to have the advantage on offense, however, as they have scored 46 goals compared to Buffalo’s 31 goals this season.

Penn State won the Big 10 Conference regular-season championship but was upset 1-0 in quarterfinal round of the conference tournament by Northwestern. The Nittany Lions were a No. 1 seed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament but fell in the championship game 4-1 to North Carolina.

Buffalo and Penn State have played against each other three times – most recently in 1994 and 1995 – with the Nittany Lions winning both of these matchups. The Bulls were shutout in both games. Buffalo’s lone win against Penn State came in a 6-0 victory in 1988.

Buffalo assistant coach Casey Derkacz played two seasons on the Penn State men’s soccer team from 2007-08 before transferring to Buffalo for his final two seasons.

“They put the work in, and now, it’s paying off,” Burke said. “It started at the top with our leadership. It’s a smaller roster and we had some injuries, but everyone’s contributed. This is a special team from the staff, [assistant coach] Kim [Brandao] and Casey and the players. We’ll be ready for Friday.”

Buffalo would face either Connecticut or New Hampshire Nov. 21 in the second round with a win Friday.

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