Playing hard doesn't always result in a victory. The women's soccer team learned this the hard way on Sunday. Buffalo led in shots on goal, but the Bulls were held scoreless.
After the cancellation of a Friday night contest with Toledo, the Bulls (6-8, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) were scheduled to host the Bowling Green Falcons (8-8, 5-3 MAC) at UB Stadium. However, the game between the two Mid-American Conference opponents was moved to Kent, Ohio due to the uncertainty of the situation caused by the weather in Buffalo.
Corbie Yee seemed to find holes in the Bulls' defense, as she led the Falcons with five shots on goal. She came into the game with one goal on the season, but that total was tripled by the end of the match.
In the 14th minute, Brianne Eisenhard passed to the left side for Yee. Yee drilled the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Amy Coron for the score. Coron got a hand on the ball, but its momentum carried it into the net.
"The outside back needed to hold her ground and she slipped," said Bulls head coach Jean-A Tassy. "When (junior) Courtney (MacVie) came to help, she also slipped. I think we needed to have more help on that side and we didn't. When our defenders slipped, that gave the advantage to the attacker and she finished well."
Bowling Green kept the pressure on the Bulls. The Falcons had three corner kicks and four shots in the following minutes. However, Coron saved the only shot that was on goal.
Buffalo's offense provided scoring opportunities late in the first half, but the Bulls went into halftime trailing 1-0.
"We had three great opportunities at the end of the first half," Tassy said. "That probably would have changed the outcome of the game if we had placed two of them in the net."
In the 66th minute, the Bulls had the Falcons on their heels. Buffalo had three shots in a row over a span of eight minutes.
However, the Falcons were able to clear the ball to start a scoring chance of their own. In the 75th minute, Yee scored her second goal of the day. She one-timed a pass from Lindsay Carter into the bottom-right corner of the net.
The Bulls were unable to score for the rest of the match and took the defeat 2-0.
It was the third start of the season for Falcons goalkeeper Christy Zabek, all of which have ended in a shutout. She had nine saves for the match.
Bowling Green had six corner kicks compared to one for the Bulls. Buffalo held the advantage in shots on goal 9-7. Junior Kathleen Fage matched opponent Yee with five shots on goal to lead the Bulls.
"I thought we were somewhat flat," Tassy said. "Bowling Green has been in the playoffs before, and you can tell the intensity of the kids was greater than our intensity and that was the difference."
The Bulls are still learning and Coach Tassy stressed that they're working on improving their weaknesses in practice.
"Where we are struggling the most throughout the season is our inability to communicate on the field," Tassy said. "We try to solve that in practice. We force them to communicate in practice and give each other advice, but it has to be a continuous process so that's what we're doing."
The Bulls also have few upperclassmen. The only seniors on the roster are Lindsay Guarino and Jessica Roesch.
"When you have a young team, the thing that you deal with the most is the inconsistencies," Tassy said. "The choices that we made were not the best choices, but that's part of the game. We have to continue to battle."
The cancellation of the game versus Toledo and the movement of the game Sunday to Kent reduced the Bulls' conference home games from four to two. The last three games of the season are all road games versus MAC opponents.
"The last three games are not going to be easy games," Tassy said. "We need to do what we need to do to secure a playoff spot. We can't wait for other teams to do things for us. We are going to have to earn our stripes in order for us to get a playoff spot."
Buffalo hosts Cornell today at UB Stadium in a non-conference match-up. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start time.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
