KALAMAZOO, MI – The University at Buffalo men's soccer
team closed out the 2009 season in winning fashion as the Bulls
defeated Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan in
double overtime, 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at WMU Soccer Complex.
With only eight seconds remaining in the second overtime period,
senior forward Dan Bulley scored the game-winning goal on a
breakaway off a long-bouncing goal kick.
In the first overtime, neither team generated much offense. Looking
to net the game-winner, the Bulls' offense came out aggressively in
the second overtime. With neither team able to break the 1-1 tie,
the Bulls made one final offensive push. Sophomore goalkeeper Nick Fetterman sent a booming goal kick towards the midfield. The ball
would take a long bounce off the kick with Bulley gaining
possession. Bulley was able to slip by the Broncos' defenders on a
breakaway versus WMU goalikeeper Casey Aubil. Walking in on Aubil,
Bulley blasted the game-winning goal with only eight seconds
remaining to give the Bulls' a 2-1 come from behind victory.
Following over 85 minutes of scoreless play, the Broncos tallied
the contest's first goal of the game. Leading goal scorer Saeed
Sulemana-Baba received a touch pass along the left side from C.J.
Brown with Sulemana-Baba finishing the play in a crowd of players
to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead in the 86th minute.
Facing a one-goal deficit, the Bulls answered quickly in just over
a minute. Off a Buffalo free kick, senior Alex Marrello sent a
backside pass to junior Mike Unwin, who fired a shot past Aubil to
send the the game into overtime. Marrello's assist was his 16th of
his career, moving him into a three-way tie for fifth place in most
career assists with Tim Songer (1998-00) and Sotir Tanevski
(1990-95).
"It was a great win. Down one-nil, our team hung in there. This
victory showed a lot of character from our squad," said head coach
John Astudillo.
Despite the loss, the Broncos held a 22-15 shot advantage in the
contest.
In his sixth victory of the season, Fetterman recorded a
career-high ten saves. Also, he collected his first career assist
on Bulley's game-winning goal. The last Buffalo goalkeeper to
collect an assist was Chris Allen on November 8, 2005 in the
opening round of the MAC Tournament as UB defeated IPFW, 4-0.
Buffalo finishes the regular season with an overall record of 7-9-1
(2-4 MAC).