The Bulls (5-6-2, 3-2-1 MAC) had momentum coming into Sunday’s home game against Kent State, the defending MAC champions.
But the team had issues connecting passes from the start and ended the game with multiple turnovers. The Kent State Golden Flashes (9-5-1, 5-1-0 MAC) had their own issues getting things going. The Bulls lost 1-0 in a low scoring affair with little action to speak of.
“We get punished for our mistakes for not taking care of things that we should,” said head coach Shawn Burke. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities early and we just didn’t make them happen later.”
The sole goal of the game came at 57:17 when Kent State senior forward Hayden Pascoe lobed a ball high into the net off a crossfield pass. The ball was tipped backwards into the net by senior goalkeeper Laura Dougall, instead of over it.
“It ended up hitting weirdly off my hand and with the defense running it is hard to clear those out,” Dougall said. “I thought the defense played well today we just have to work on those crosses going forward.”
The Golden Flashes controlled ball possession early in the game, recording a shot on goal at 24:55 which Dougall saved. The Bulls came alive after the shot, going on to split ball control with the Golden Flashes for the rest of the half. The Bulls had eight shots during the half but none on goal.
Though the Bulls gave the Golden Flashes little time downfield in the second half, they were unable to stop them from scoring.
“When the defense is disciplined they do there job very well and are tough to break down for 90 minutes. They just have mental lapses at times,” Burke said.
The Bulls had scoring chances throughout the game but did not have a single shot on goal. The team controlled the ball for most of the second half but were only able to record two shots.
Yet the Bulls stopped the Flashes from getting solid looks.
“We can play with anybody, obviously Kent is the cream of the crop in the conference and we are right there with them,” Burke said. “Games like this show you that this team still has plenty to work on but the talent and skill are all right there.”
The Bulls play next on Friday in an away game against the Bowling Green Falcons (8-5-0, 3-3-0 MAC).
“I’m confident we can bounce back from this I’m not worried at all,” Dougall said. “It sucks to be losing games but it done and over with. The only thing we can do is focus on the game on Friday.”
Thomas Zafonte is a co-senior sports editor and can be reached at tthomas.zafonte@ubspectrum.com
Thomas Zafonte is a senior English major. He is a UB sports fan and enjoys traveling around Buffalo.
