Strong Second Half Leads Bulls To 3-2 Victory.
ubbulls.com.It was another Friday night at UB Stadium for the University at Buffalo men's soccer team, and it was another thrilling victory as the Bulls scored two second half goals to defeat Detroit, 3-2. The victory is UB's second of the season, the previous coming two weeks ago at home against Bryant.
The Bulls had to play catch up for most of the evening as Detroit struck first in the 10th minute of action. However, the Bulls answered in the 29th minute as Nicolai Berry sent a long ball into the box that was picked up by Marcus Hanson, who shot it past the keeper to tie it up at 1-1. The Titans would answer back though, scoring with just seven seconds left in the first half, taking a 2-1 lead into the break.
UB dominated play for much of the second half and took advantage of the chances they were given. In the 76th minute, the Bulls were awarded a penalty kick following a Detroit foul in the box and sophomore Russell Cicerone converted on the kick, sending the ball into the bottom left of the net past the Detroit goalkeeper.
The match remained tied for just under four minutes as senior Kristian Lee-Him took a pass from Cicerone and fired a shot from 25 yards out that found its way into the back of the net to give the Bulls the 3-2 advantage. The Bulls then played solid defense over the final 20 minutes to hold on for the win.
"We felt really good," said head coach Stu Riddle. "We had a different approach to our training and we felt really good coming into the match. While I didn't like the way we ended the first half tonight, I thought we responded really well in the second."
Senior Waleed Cassis finished with five saves on the evening as he picked up his second victory of the year. As a team, UB finished with nine shots, led by three from Cicerone and two from Abdulla Al-Kalisy. Of the nine shots take by UB, five of them were on goal.
The Bulls will now hit the road for a Sunday match at Duquesne. Kick off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
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