Fage chips in overtime win

For the UB women's soccer team, winning occasionally with their injured, patchwork team must feel just as rewarding as going undefeated with a stacked lineup.

The women's soccer team left Homecoming Weekend with one win and one loss -- a rainy defeat on Friday preceding an overtime victory Sunday.

Freshman forward Brooke McCalla jumped up to win a 50-50 ball during the second overtime in Sunday's game when she was fouled outside Northern Illinois' goal box. The foul set up sophomore midfielder Kathleen Fage to curl the game-winning direct kick around a wall of opposing defenders.

"I was thinking, 'I'm going to get this. We need a goal right now. This is it,' " Fage said. "The girl moved over to follow one of our girls and I was like 'That's my shot right there,' and I put it right where I wanted it."

The Bulls (4-8-1 overall, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) controlled the ball throughout most of Sunday's 3-2 win over the Northern Illinois Huskies (4-7-2, 2-4 MAC), which lead up to Fage's dramatic ending.

All four regulation-goals came over a span of nine minutes in a high-intensity second half. Sophomore forward Ashley Turner was the first to strike for either team, scoring off a rebound of one of Fage's shots. Although the Huskies responded quickly with two goals over the next seven minutes, McCalla was fouled in the Huskies' goal box, forcing a penalty kick that she nailed to tie the game.

"The strategy has been the same," said head coach Jean A. Tassy. "Create opportunities and be disciplined enough to make things work. Today we kept the ball on the ground, hit our targets and attacked the flanks. We really did all the things that we are supposed to do."

Tassy explained that it has been the little mistakes that have lost games for the Bulls all season long.

"There is still some breakdown because of our youth," Tassy said. "For about ten minutes out of each half we'll struggle. We need to have some clear leadership, someone who will realize that our pulse is low and pick us up a little bit."

The win over Northern Illinois on Sunday was a huge pickup to break a three-game losing streak during which Buffalo scored no goals. The most recent loss came on Friday against a highly skilled Western Michigan team (7-4-1, 5-0 MAC).

The Broncos took over the game on Friday night at UB Stadium against a struggling Bulls team. Although UB's senior goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert added nine saves to her MAC-leading total to make it 72 for the season, two goals snuck by her to ensure a 2-0 Broncos win.

"There is nothing like working hard and seeing the end result not being promising," Tassy said. "You have to also be realistic too. We have four starters on the bench that are hurt. The girls that fill the gaps need to play with confidence and know what they do well, which is really something that only maturity can bring."

None of the active athletes on the women's soccer team has started every game of the season. Injuries to last year's All-MAC defender Courtney MacVie and offensive threat Natalia Crofut have put the Bulls in a tough spot.

Add on injuries to sophomore defender Kara Winch and sophomore forward Heidi Griffiths during a season in which Tassy had intentionally arranged a more challenging schedule and "tough spot" starts to seem like an understatement.

"Injury is part of the season," Tassy said. "We miss our players that are injured, but at the same time, those players are also becoming almost an extension of our coaching staff and that is very positive."

Sunday's win was important not only to restore some of the players' confidence, but also it keeps them in the playoff race, despite all the setbacks suffered throughout the season.

"You have got to give kudos to the team as a whole for how they played against Western Michigan," Tassy said. "They all played their hearts out. We battled. I don't have any problems as long as we battle."

The last five games of the season are now in focus and the team needs a little luck combined with a strong finish to force post-season play.

The Bulls' next test will come against Toledo (6-5-0, 1-3 MAC) on Friday and then at Bowling Green (6-6, 2-2 MAC) on Sunday.