All season long Emily Russell has been the driving force for the UB women's soccer team. She continued that trend Sunday as she led the Bulls attack against Miami (OH) for UB Senior Day.
The University at Buffalo women's soccer team (8-6-1 overall, 4-4-1 MAC) defeated the Miami of Ohio RedHawks (4-7-2 overall, 3-5-1 MAC) by the score of 3-1 at RAC field on Sunday.
The Bulls established their lead in the second half, as Russell netted her first goal of the game, assisted by her sister and fellow senior Devon Russell in the fifty-ninth minute.
After the last game, a double-overtime marathon against the Ball State Cardinals 7-4-2, 3-4-1 MAC) which they were dropped by a score of 2-1 in, head coach Jean-A Tassy expressed his good feelings of the team's improvement.
"On Friday, [it] just wasn't happening for us, even though we played an excellent all-around game, which created some great opportunities."
The Bulls victory was much needed to provide an emotional rebound from the Ball State game. Senior Day was a good opportunity, where several UB players were honored for their collegiate careers in an on-field ceremony before the game.
Miami struck first, as RedHawk forward Ashley Swineheart scored in the thirty-fifth minute on a header, assisted on a beautiful cross-field pass from Jessica Godshall. The Buffalo defense, which has been consistent for most of the year, allowed only a few more good scoring opportunities to the RedHawks, who weren't able to capitalize on any of them.
The Bulls struck back three minutes later, tying the game on a Jennifer Dannecker goal, her second of the year, which was assisted by Emily Russell. On the drive, several Miami defenders were caught out of position, which led to the easy goal.
Emily Russell, who leads the MAC in goals (14) and total points (30), added an insurance goal in the eighty-ninth minute, assisted by forward Natalia Crofut to extend the Buffalo lead to 3-1, which solidified the victory for the Bulls.
The win was a first for the Bulls, as they had never beaten the RedHawks. They trailed 6-0 in the all-time series previous to the game.
"After the first half, we needed to tighten up on defense, and not allow them play their game by pumping the ball forward," said Tassy. "So I had our defenders mark two or three of their forwards, which led to some turnovers."
"Coach Tassy gave us some good halftime advice; in the second half, we played much tighter defense, our midfielders stayed a little wider, and they also sent better through-balls to the forwards," Emily Russell said.
Buffalo's next two games are on the road, as they travel to play on Friday, Oct. 17 against Bowling Green (5-7-1 overall, 3-3-1 MAC) before they head off to Toledo (5-8-0 overall, 3-5-0 MAC) on Sunday, Oct. 19.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
