After their third consecutive game on the road, the men's soccer team showed no signs of fatigue as they continued their stellar play for the fourth game in a row and defeated Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan.
The Bulls (8-3-2, 2-0 MAC) traveled to take on the Broncos (6-7-0, 0-2 MAC) and continued their strong play by claiming a 2-1 victory on Friday.
Last season, the Bulls dropped the game to Western Michigan, but clearly did not wish to repeat the experience. Buffalo came out blazing from the beginning of this year's game, as junior defender Dezi Lara scored the opening goal of the match off of a corner kick, just shy of the eight- minute mark. Assisting on the goal was sophomore midfielder Alex Marello, who took the corner, and junior forward Dominic Oppong. The goal was the first for Lara in his career with Buffalo.
The Bulls' second goal was scored in the 54th minute by senior midfielder Dan Stevens. Stevens received a pass from sophomore forward Dan Bulley, which he played off his chest before netting a goal into the upper corner of the goal past the Western Michigan goalkeeper. In addition to Bulley, freshman forward Juha Kaartoluoma registered his first assist of the season for Buffalo.
"This second goal was a work of art," said head coach John Astudillo. "Stevens made a great finish and the passes were efficient and right on the money, it was a bang-bang play."
Western Michigan eventually cut into Buffalo's lead as CJ Brown scored for the Broncos in the 62nd minute. Brown, standing in the corner of the box, shot the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Robert Shuttleworth, beating him to the upper left corner of the goal. Brown's teammate Tom Oatley received an assist on the play.
Even after Western Michigan got on the scoreboard, the Bulls were confident and believed that they would hold on to win the game.
"This team has great confidence with a lead," Astudillo said. "They are comfortable no matter what the score is. It showed in the players' eyes and the way they played that they wanted to win. There was no panic and the guys focused on what they have to do and not what the scoreboard reads."
Buffalo was a force on the offensive side of the field, putting up 18 shots against the Broncos goalie.
"I am very proud of this team right now," Astudillo said. "We got off to a fast start and had a nice rhythm in the beginning of the game and our offense was going well."
Shuttleworth remained strong making six saves, marking his seventh victory of the season at goalkeeper.
Even though the Buffalo defense is wounded right now, they were still able to contain Oatley, Western Michigan's biggest offensive threat. He only managed to tally five shots, with two of them on goal.
"Western Michigan is a scrappy team," Astudillo said. "Our defense came through, especially Dan Gwyther, who kept the defense organized. Robbie Shuttleworth came through and made some key saves when we needed him to. We weren't lucky to get the win, we were the better of the two teams."
Buffalo did not look ahead to its contest against defending MAC champion Northern Illinois, the team that ended the Bulls 2006 season.
"This next game is going to be a showdown," Astudillo said. "Northern Illinois looks strong and it is going to be a memorable game and it is going to be fun to be a part of."
The Bulls look to continue their undefeated MAC record as they travel to take on Northern Illinois on Saturday Oct. 20. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
