The BGSU men’s soccer team lost a heartbreaker to Buffalo in a 3-2 overtime match Friday night.

The Falcons failed to hold onto an early 2-0 lead as they opened Mid-American Conference play with a loss, sending their overall record to 3-5-1.

BG captain Thomas McLean says the team didn’t necessarily play poorly, but was hurt by some costly mistakes.

“We played well,” McLean said, “it was just the little things that ended up losing us the game.”

The Falcons were the first to strike when, just 12 minutes into the game, McLean sent a free kick into the back of the net.

“I just shot it and it hit the player on the end of the wall, and that spun it away from the goalkeeper, then it went in,” McLean said.

Later, in the 37th minute of the match, forward Cameron Hepple scored his second goal in as many games to give BGSU the 2-0 lead. Hepple’s goal came after he gained control of a Matt Klancic throw-in, and took advantage of an opportunity in front of the net.

“The ball bounced in, and it came off of Ryan Davis’ thigh,” Hepple said. “I just controlled it on my chest and just did a side-volley.

“My back was facing to the goal, and I just hit it with an instinct and it went in.”

From that point on, Buffalo was able to take advantage of Falcon mistakes as they scored the first goal of their comeback before the half was over.

“At halftime it was 2-1, then we just let our heads down,” Hepple said.

The Bulls were able to tie the match in the 62nd minute and hold on to force the game into an extra period. Buffalo needed just 26 seconds of overtime to complete the comeback, and boost their record to 6-3-1.

“That was a game that we should have won and we kind of just threw it away,” Hepple said. “We just have to focus more on finishing off games and keep going at them.”

The Falcons will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they travel to Michigan State (6-0-2).