On a night that honored and recognized Buffalo's eight senior players, the men's soccer team sent a message to the 19th ranked Huskies of Northern Illinois and to the entire Mid-American Conference.
In the words of head coach John Astudillo, "destiny was in our hands, not theirs."
With a flood of emotion on the field before kickoff, the Bulls were matched up with a team that had won eight straight games and had not allowed a goal in seven of those. That all changed Friday night as a confident men's soccer team downed the nationally ranked powerhouse, 1-0 in dramatic fashion.
"This senior class has really been the skeleton and frame of this team," Astudillo said. "You got to give these guys a lot of credit. They played their heart out."
Evenly fought throughout the first half, the Huskies (11-4-1, 4-1 MAC) chalked up five shots on goal with the Bulls (9-5-2, 3-1 MAC), close behind with four shots. The numbers in the net were also even as Huskies goalkeeper Joe Zimka made four saves and Buffalo's senior goalkeeper Dan Bell made three.
As the Huskies applied heavy pressure early and often, Bell stepped up to make huge saves for the Bulls to keep the game scoreless. A dangerous Huskies free kick just outside Buffalo's box forced Bell to make a diving stop for one of his three first-half saves.
"We knew that unless we played with a high intensity today, we would come out on the short end," Astudillo said. "The intensity was very high from the start, from both sides. They could have locked the MAC championship tonight if they won."
With a halftime score of 0-0 on a brisk, chilly Buffalo evening, the heart of this Buffalo team would emerge in the second half.
"Coach already knew that we were both similar teams, so he told us to put more hard work in, work harder then them and the result will come," said senior striker Andrae Clarke. "We knew if we put in the work in the second half, we would come out on top."
As they showed their skill and toughness, the nationally ranked Huskies would not rest.
The Huskies gave the Bulls a scare to remember when they netted a goal in the 67th minute off a free kick. With frantic whistles after the play, the goal would be called back due to the only Northern Illinois offside of the game.
The game stayed at a scoreless tie.
With both teams eager to score, the shot and save count increased. The Huskies racked up 10 shots and forced Bell to come up huge again making five more saves. On the other side, the Bulls had six players fire shots on net and tallied up seven shot in the second half.
The dedication, hard work and persistence paid off as the game winning goal finally came. Off a throw in from senior midfielder Sola Abolaji, Clarke trapped it, dribbled with speed to his right and blasted home the goal in the 86th minute of play. The goal caused an eruption from the over 300 fans in attendance as Clarke paraded the sideline pumping his fists.
Clarke's goal is his eighth of the season and puts him one shy of his career best.
"This just wipes out all the bad games we played and put us over the hump to show our true talent, at home, on senior day, representing UB," Clarke said. "We bleed blue."
Bell claimed his seventh shutout of the season and tied a season high eight saves. His counterpart, Zinka, saw his seven-match shutout snapped; he had not allowed a goal in almost 800 minutes of match play.
"It doesn't get any better than this," Bell said. "We still have a legitimate shot of winning the conference and it is such a thrill for all of us, especially with my whole family here."
The huge win for the Bulls keeps their chance of winning its first MAC regular season championship title alive. The Bulls need a win over the mighty Akron Zips in the team's final game of the season next Friday to clinch a first place tie. The game is set to start at 7 p.m. at Lee Jackson Field Complex in Akron, Ohio.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
