After a successful season in which the team was ranked in the top 20 nationally, UB men's soccer looks to accomplish a feat that no other UB team has ever managed: win a Mid-American Conference title.
"I think it would be meaningful because we have started a new era, the Manuel era, and I think it would be significant to start it off on the right foot," said head coach John Astudillo. "I think the university deserves it. Frankly, it's up to one of our teams to bring one home."
Going into the last games of the season, against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois, the team needed a win to secure the second seed and get a bye in the first round of the tournament. Instead, they tied Western Michigan 1-1 and lost to Northern 1-0.
The Bulls will now host a first-round game against Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW), which has not won a conference game this season. UB defeated the Mastodons 1-0 on senior day earlier in the season.
Though the team hit a rough patch at the wrong time, Astudillo is not worried about the team losing momentum from the great season.
"I don't feel a loss of momentum," Astudillo said. "What I feel is that we did not score when we should have scored because there were plenty of opportunities against Western Michigan and plenty of opportunities against Northern. It was our own doing."
One of the big factors going into the tournament is the status of sophomore forward Lee Catchpole, who leads the team with nine goals. Catchpole sat out the last three regular season games due to a broken cheekbone he suffered during a violent collision with a player from Bowling Green. Astudillo had no news to report on Catchpole's status.
Since the loss of Catchpole, the team's offense has been lackluster, managing only three goals in three games. According to Astudillo, the defense has been superb to keep the Bulls competitive in Catchpole's absence, and the team has been working hard to find its scoring touch from earlier in the season.
"The strong points are that we can initiate attack, we can sustain attack, and I think we're defending well enough," Astudillo said. "In the last four MAC games, we conceded a total of two goals. So defensively we're doing all right. Offensively, however, is something that we need to click. And that's one of the things that we're doing right now."
The Bulls got off to the best start in team history going 9-0 and 10-1 before MAC play. The team came back to Earth a little in the conference, with a record of 2-2-1. Astudillo attributed the MAC record to more quality opponents and a rise in intensity.
"In MAC play we knew it was always going to be a 1-0, 2-1, 1-1 game," he said. "It's always a close game, so we need to learn how to play those games better, and get results."
Now that the regular season is over, the Bulls' next loss will be their last. The team needs to erase everything that happened over the season, because one slip up and the team will never be able to accomplish its top goal of an NCAA tournament birth.
"This is a new season," Astudillo said. "It's a do-or-die type of mentality. You don't play for the tournament. You have to win the game. That's it."
If the Bulls are able to beat IPFW, they will then face No. 2 Northern Illinois, which dealt UB its third loss of the season.
"You try never to play with anxiety, you always play for the moment," Astudillo said. "I think teams that play nervously are teams that lose."
UB begins its postseason play at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. Tickets will go on sale at 6 p.m. on game day with prices of $4 for the general public and $2 for s
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
