In the Bulls Classic Tournament this weekend, the men's soccer team slid, sprinted, and took some serious spills, but emerged on top, defeating Valparaiso and Cleveland State in two exhausting battles on the field.
Although Buffalo was slow to produce goals in the first halves of both games, it was victorious in beating both opponents and received several awards in the process.
Buffalo (2-0) put up a tough struggle in the first half of their game against Valparaiso, striving to obtain possession of the ball and end the first half in the lead. After an intense 45 minutes of straight play, the Bulls went into halftime down by one at a score of 1-0.
"We weren't possessing the ball well enough in the first half," said head coach John Astudillo. "We were going long and high but needed to be more short and in front of the ball. That was a major adjustment we needed to make."
After an almost fruitless first half, Buffalo burst into the second half like a tyrannous wind, blowing through their opponents and dominating possession of the ball. The Bulls snatched the lead as senior Greg Galemore drove in two consecutive goals within the first seven minutes of the half, with assists from sophomore Lee Catchpole and junior Andrae Clarke.
"In the second half we changed our game plan because we were playing way too fast," said Galemore. "We decided to slow it down more, spread it out wide, and keep more possession."
After nearly 30 minutes of unwavering back and forth defense from both teams, UB junior Bryan Knapp chipped Catchpole a precise left assist, putting him well ahead of the defense for Valparaiso (2-2). Catchpole rocketed the game winning shot into the net with a whopping fifteen minutes remaining.
"Once we started playing with and off of Greg Galemore and Bryan Knapp, I thought the complexity of the game changed dramatically," said Astudillo. "We got away from the long balls and played more intimate fielding. I thought we were finding ourselves much better."
With Buffalo in the lead and only seconds left in the game, Valparaiso's Pail Leitelt scored the last goal of the night from a straight kick from 25 yards out. Their last goal wasn't enough to capture the lead and the Bulls finished the game victorious, by a final score of 3-2.
"We shut them down and finished off their chances. Game over," Catchpole said with a smirk.
By the time Sunday's game against Cleveland State (0-1-1) arrived, after such a grueling match the day before, the Bulls were ready to swipe a second win.
The first 45 minutes of Sunday's game featured extremely aggressive defense on both sides, with each team only taking three attempts on goal.
"Get out the stretcher!" yelled an audience member as others screamed and whooped. The suspense of the game grew as the ball flew back and forth as if in a pinball machine. But the constant struggle to retain possession of the ball only resulted in a scoreless first half.
While one might assume the team would become tired and perhaps even give up hope after playing forty-five minutes of intense soccer and ending the first half without even a goal to show for it, the Bulls proved their physical endurance by coming into the second half and scoring three goals within the first 25 minutes.
"They looked fit in the first half, but in the second half I thought we really broke down their fitness," said Astudillo of his team's offense. "We ended up with a lot more speed in our plays."
Knocking the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net to complete Buffalo's first goal was sophomore Shyle Braithwaite. Following quickly after Braithwaite with less than 25 minutes left in the game, Matt Stuczinski delivered a second shot to the net, bringing the score to 2-0, Buffalo.
Thirty-three seconds later, Catchpole sent another ball rocketing into the net after receiving a double assist from Galemore and Mat Wilkenson.
"Especially in the second half, we were very organized at midfield and we put a lot of pressure on the ball," said Astudillo. "No runner came in unattended."
By the time UB had netted three goals, Cleveland's offense only managed to take three shots on goal and their score still remained at zero.
Showing improvement in both possession and scoring, Braithwaite scored his second goal of the game with 15 minutes left in the half off of an assist from Stuczynski. The final goal was scored by freshman Matt Grabowski and assisted by freshman Marc Stencel.
"The first half we played even with them," said Stuczynski. "By the second half they were too tired to keep up with us and we just went right at them."
The Bulls completed their weekend of wins and took home several awards, including Stuczynski as Most Valuable Defensive Player and Catchpole as Most Valuable Offensive Player. Galemore, junior Daniel Bell, and senior Mbwana Johnson were named into the All-Tournament team.
Buffalo will be challenging cross-town rival Niagara this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at UB stadium as the team continues its five game home series.
"We want to make sure we take the game to them," said Astudillo on the upcoming game. "We want to go hard and do everything we possibly can to win right from the beginning."
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
