A coach of mine once said that success is where preparation meets opportunity.
The UB women's soccer team has mastered the latter two components but has failed to find success with any regularity at this juncture of the season. The majority of the problem has been a lack of firepower on the attack, where UB has only managed 10 goals in 11 games.
Buffalo (2-5-3,2-3-1 MAC), which hosts neighboring rival Canisius (0-8, 0-2 MAAC) on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. will hope to find their stride against a team that has also struggled on offense, scoring a mere three goals in eight games in a so far winless campaign.
"Last year we were not playing well and were winning games. This year we are playing well but not winning games," said UB Head Coach Jean-A. Tassy. "The thing to look forward to is a positive outcome."
Given the team's struggles this year, Coach Tassy has given his team the weekend off to rest, heal up some nagging injuries and recover from mental strain.
While the offense has struggled mightily, the defense has played relatively well in comparison. Coach Tassy noted specifically that junior attackers Emily Russell and Nicole Olszewski have been getting the shots but aren't scoring, and need to step it up.
"It's not a matter of trying something different it just that we are having problems getting the ball to the back of the net," said Russell.
Buffalo has a good track record in recent years against Canisius and will look to continue that trend. They will also be looking to avenge Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the other local team, Niagara.
"The thing that hurt us is soft goals at the wrong time of games," Tassy said. "Local games bring an opportunity for bragging rights and the other teams are up for it."
Buffalo is looking for a game to sharpen their mental toughness and strengthen their discipline. Canisius is the perfect opponent to accomplish such a task, because they are struggling and will put forth an effort at all costs to try to steal a win.
"We are a team that's not playing up to our potential," Russell said. "We should not lose to Canisius just like we shouldn't have lost to Niagara."
Buffalo will play its normal strategy of attacking on offense, while focusing on execution and the final play before shooting on net. Canisius on the other hand will try to remain close early and take advantage of any sloppy ball handling by UB.
The Buffalo defense, which has been inconsistent to this point, will look to find a rhythm and cut down on their mistakes and occasional breakdowns.
"We have to execute if we want to start winning games," Tassy said. " Our schedule has been tough in August and September, and the inability to score has hurt us."
