After losing their first four games of the season, the Bulls' women's soccer team (2-4 overall, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) has scored six unanswered goals over the last two games. On Sunday afternoon, Buffalo kept the floodgates open, scoring two more goals en route to a 2-0 shutout of the Akron Zips (2-4 overall, 0-2 MAC) at Lee R. Jackson Field.
The Bulls scored all they would need in the 16th minute, as senior Jenny Dannecker dribbled through the Zips' defense, touching twine for the second time this season.
Dannecker tacked on another point in the 47th minute, as she assisted freshman midfielder Kathleen Fage for the Bulls' second goal of the game. The assist, Dannecker's fifth point of the season, tied her with senior Arielle Korczykowski for the team's lead in points.
Up to this point in the season, the team had been having serious scoring troubles. Their defense and their ball movement had been strong, but the team did not have anyone who could get the ball to the back of the net on a regular basis.
Coach Jean Tassy was excited about the win, and knows how important it was to the team, especially after starting the season with four straight losses.
"I think the girls knew what they were capable of winning ... but it was important to continue to play good team defense and for everyone to contribute," Tassy said.
The stifling Buffalo defense helped make goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert's life fairly easy. She was rarely tested, stopping just three shots in her second straight shutout. This was also the tenth time she has blanked a team in her career at UB.
"We played good solid defense, especially with our two freshmen in the back, Courtney MacVie and Amanda Courteau, helping out our veteran starters," said Coach Tassy.
UB's offense has shown improvement as the season has progressed. The team's chemistry has also been good all year, and the scoring is coming together with their six unanswered goals over their last two games.
The Bulls will attempt to continue their all-around good play against MAC opponents when Eastern Michigan (3-1-1, 0-0-1 MAC) comes to RAC Field on Friday. In their match-up last year, the Eagles and Bulls tied at Eastern Michigan.
Following their contest with the Eagles, UB will remain home to face off against the Central Michigan Chippewas (2-3-1, 0-0-1 MAC). Last year, the Bulls traveled to Central Michigan for this match-up, and got shut out 3-0. Buffalo hopes that their momentum will continue, as any team in the MAC can beat any other team for any given game.
"Everyone in the MAC is pretty equal, it's just a question of who comes out to play each week," said Coach Tassy. "If we can take the next two games at home, we'll be exactly where we want to be in the conference."
Should the Bulls go ahead and win those two games, they'll be 3-0 in conference play so far this season.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
