Ninety minutes just wasn't enough. For the seventh time this season, the men's soccer team found its way into extra time, this time on the road against Mid American Conference (MAC) opponent Northern Illinois.
The Huskies (4-6-4, 1-1-1 MAC), the defending MAC champions, would be on the short end of Friday's game as the visiting Bulls (9-3-2, 3-0-0 MAC) walked away with a 2-1 victory. The Bulls are 5-0-2 in overtime this season.
Sophomore forward Dan Bulley was a dominant force for the Bulls. In addition to scoring both goals, including the overtime winner, Bulley took all of Buffalo's six shots.
The first goal came in the game's 25th minute, beating goaltender Joe Zimka to take a 1-0 lead. The Huskies answered quickly on Chris Johnson's boot to beat senior goalkeeper Daniel Bell in the 33rd minute.
While the Bulls were only able to muster one shot in the second half, the Huskies managed 11. Bell, the school's all time win leader, was able to keep Buffalo alive with six saves in the game, five of which were during Northern Illinois' second half barrage.
"I think that this team has played enough overtimes at this point, they were absolutely certain that they were going to win," Astudillo said.
Bulley ended the game with his second game-winning goal of the year just 3:44 into overtime, putting a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Alex Marrello in the back of the net. Marello is tied for the team lead with six assists. His 12 points are second on the team only to Bulley.
"When you don't convert opportunities, you set yourself up for an upset," Huskies coach Steve Simmons said in a press release. "Today was an upset. We were by far the superior team, but like in any sport, if you let a team hang around, things like this happen."
Next week the Bulls take on Akron, who are hot on the Bulls' heels for first place in the MAC. The Zips are 2-0-1 in the conference and will certainly not be overlooked by the Bulls. The Bulls last victory against Akron came on Nov. 3, 2000 in the MAC Quarterfinals by a 2-1 score.
"Akron is an excellent team and a force to be reckoned with," Astudillo said. "We're obviously going to have to prepare better for Akron so we can play two good halves as opposed to playing one good half, and one bad half, and one good overtime and coming away with a win."
Akron comes to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff at UB Stadium on Friday night. The game sets up a three game home stand as the Bulls wrap up their season before MAC tournament play in November.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
