Women’s soccer (5-1-0) shut out Canisius (0-5-2), 2-0, on Thursday night at the Demske Sports Complex. The Bulls then returned home to UB Stadium Sunday afternoon, where they shut out Duquesne (2-3-1), 4-0.
After dropping their first game of the season to West Virginia, the Bulls have won five straight — with their last three wins being shutouts.
The Bulls started off hot on Thursday night against Canisius, scoring at the 17-minute mark when graduate student midfielder Marcy Barberic found sophomore midfielder Olivia Bizzoni for her first career goal. Only a few minutes later, senior defender Abbey Callaghan found her sister — senior defender Hannah Callaghan — on a free kick. The Rochester native headed it in to increase the Bulls’ lead to 2-0 heading into the second half.
Coming out of the break, Canisius had a golden opportunity to net its first goal of the evening around the 60-minute mark, but senior goalkeeper Emily Kelly made an impressive stop to keep the shutout alive.
The game was delayed for 30 minutes at the 81-minute mark due to weather conditions but later resumed, and the Bulls were able to preserve the shutout victory.
UB out shot Canisius 8-0 in the first half and 18-2 for the game. Kelly finished with one save while Canisius sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Jones finished with four.
Coach Shawn Burke and his staff named Abbey Callaghan the Player of the Game for her pivotal assist on the free kick and her strong defensive play.
The Bulls came out firing yet again on Sunday afternoon against Duquesne, when Barberic netted a goal only six minutes into the game. She then scored her second goal of the afternoon on a free kick at the 20-minute mark, securing an early 2-0 lead for the Bulls.
Just three minutes later, graduate student forward Gianna Yurchak netted a goal assisted by junior midfielder Leah Wengender. The score gave UB a 3-0 lead heading into the second half.
The Dukes came out aggressively in the second half with two strong opportunities to get on the board, but Kelly continued to impress in goal.
Around the 57-minute mark, the Dukes became too aggressive, resulting in a quick steal from senior midfielder Katherine Camper who then fired a shot from deep into the back of the net, further increasing the lead to 4-0.
Despite winning the game in dominant fashion, the Bulls only out shot Duquesne by one — a testament to UB’s strong defensive effort.
Kelly had a season-high five saves while junior goalkeeper Erin Murphy saw about ten minutes of action, making a career-high two saves.
Barberic also shined against Duquesne, scoring two goals on four shots for the Bulls.
UB will look to continue its winning streak when the Bulls travel to Storrs, CT to take on the UConn Huskies (4-2-0) on Saturday.
Hunter Skoczylas is the assistant sports editor for The Spectrum and can be reached at hunter.skoczylas@ubspectrum.com or on Twitter @HunterSkoczylas
Hunter Skoczylas is the sports editor for The Spectrum. In his free time, he can be found looking up random sports statistics, jamming to Fleetwood Mac and dedicating his Sunday afternoons to watching the Buffalo Bills.
