In their second-to-last home game of the season, men’s soccer came out with one of their better efforts in front of the home fans, but it was not good enough as the University of Buffalo beat the Falcons 2-1.
Forward George Davis got the Falcons off to a good start two and a half minutes into the game as he connected for a goal to beat Bulls goalkeeper Daniel Bell.
“I saw a gap in the defense, JK [Justin Kim] played a good ball and I just got to it before the keeper and I knew if I touched the bottom, it was an open net,” Davis said.
The lead for the Falcons was short lived however, lasting only seven minutes. Bull forward Andrae Clarke took a throw in from Brian Knapp and was able to put the ball into the back of the net, beating BG goal keeper Paul Shoemaker. The equalizer for Clarke was his team-leading sixth goal on the season.
The score would remain tied for about 20 minutes, until the Bulls connected for the game winner in the 28th minute. Dan Stevens took a pass from Knapp from across the field and was able to beat Shoemaker for the goal.
The second half was filled with numerous opportunities for both teams but neither team could notch another goal.
“We did well in the second half,” said BG coach Fred Thompson. “We did pretty much everything but score.”
The Falcons had a few good scoring chances in the second half, but those chances were cut short when the team felt it could not get a call from the referee. On two occasions, BG had scoring opportunities where players were taken down in the box but no call was made.
Although the team suffered its 10th defeat of the season, Thompson felt his team played well enough to win.
“This is definitely the type of effort we are looking for,” Thompson said. “It took our younger guys a little while to figure it out. I think this was an enjoyable game to watch. It would have been more enjoyable if we had won but I think it was entertaining – fun to play.”
Buffalo coach John Astudillo agreed with Thompson.
“I really think BG’s effort was valiant and at times a little better than ours to be perfectly honest,” Astudillo said. “I think this game could have gone either way.”
Astudillo, who is in 18th season as head coach of the Bulls, has led his team to an 8-3-1 record this season.
The Davis goal was a rare score against the Buffalo defense, which had allowed no scores in the first half
this season.
The Falcons will play their last home game of the season as they take on perennial conference contender Akron on Friday October 20. The Zips are currently ranked 17th in the nation and have compiled a record of 7-3-1.
