Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
BUFFALO
Sophomores Help Lift Falcons Past Buffalo, 2-0
October 15, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 15, 2006
KENT, Ohio - Sophomore Corbie Yee scored a pair of goals and classmate Christy Zabek posted a shutout as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team picked up a 2-0 win over the University at Buffalo Sunday afternoon (Oct. 15). The Mid-American Conference game was held at the Kent State Soccer Field in Kent, Ohio.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 8-8-0 on the season, and BGSU is now 5-3-0 in MAC play. The Bulls drop to 6-8-0 and 3-4-0, respectively.
With three games to go in the regular season, the Falcons are tied for third place with Kent State in the MAC standings, behind first-place Ball State (5-2-1, .688) and second-place Toledo (4-2-1, .643).
On a pleasant day in Northeast Ohio, the Falcons had the offense clicking early. BGSU had a shot attempt in the first minute of the match, and the Brown and Orange had 13 of the day's first 16 shots.
With nearly nine minutes gone, junior Danielle Cygan slid a pass to senior Lindsay Carter, who drilled a hard shot that sailed just high. The two players, however, would play an integral part in a goal later in the match.
Just over four minutes later, UB's Ashley Turner took a free kick, and the ball found an open Brooke McCalla, who had gotten past the BG defense. With the Falcon bench protesting that McCalla was offsides, the UB player's shot sailed high. Less than a minute later, the Falcons would get a chance at the other end of the field, and would make the most of it.
A pair of sophomores hooked up on the scoring play, as Brianne Eisenhard's cross-field pass sent Yee down the left side of the field. With two defenders in pursuit, Yee cut the ball back to the right, took a dribble or two across the top of the 18-yard box and fired. UB goalkeeper Amy Coron was able to get a hand on the ball, but could not keep the shot from sailing into the net. The Falcons had the lead at the 13:40 mark.
Several minutes later, Cygan made a long run into the box, but was eventually knocked off the ball by a trio of UB defenders.
With 20 minutes left in the half, Eisenhard and Yee nearly replicated their scoring play. An Eisenhard pass sent Yee down the left side of the field, and she cut the ball back across the penalty area. This time, however, Yee's shot went wide.
Just over two minutes later, Yee had another dangerous chance, bringing the ball into the area and winning a challenge from a Buffalo defender before shooting just wide.
In the 37th minute, the Falcons had another flurry. Eisenhard's shot from the top of the box was blocked, and the rebound caromed to freshman Faith Juillerat. Juillerat's shot also was blocked, but the ball bounded into the goalmouth, where freshman Samantha Bland poked it into the net as she and a UB defender went for the ball. Prior to Bland's shot, however, the assistant referee had held his flag aloft, and the goal was waved off.
Midway through the second half, some nifty passing by Juillerat and Cygan gave Yee the ball on the left side, but her hard shot was right at Coron, who made the save.
With 15:45 left in the match, however, Yee would strike again. Again, the Falcons displayed some pinpoint passing, as Cygan slid the ball left to Carter, who played a ball to Yee. The through-ball found the charging sophomore behind the defense, and she neatly placed her one-timer into the lower right-hand corner of the net.
The Bulls had several shots in an attempt to chip into the Falcons' lead, but Zabek was up to the task. The sophomore made a career-high nine saves en route to her third shutout in as many starts this season.
"We got two fantastic wins on the road this weekend," said BGSU head coach Andy Richards. "That is extremely pleasing, especially after the results we had last weekend (losses at Ohio and Akron).
"We did a little bit of soul-searching as a team, had a bit of a gut-check, and really worked very hard this week in practice to regain our competitive spirit. I think we found it this week; we played very well against both Kent State and Buffalo, and managed to get ourselves on track again.
"It was great to see Corbie Yee score twice more today, but the entire team played very well. I thought we were much more offensive-minded than we have been in previous games, and we could have scored more than two goals today. But, we will take it, and we are very happy to get two wins away from home this weekend. It is very difficult to get MAC wins, let alone on the road.
"In addition to the offense, Christy and the defense played very well this weekend as well. They did a nice job of keeping both KSU and UB at bay and keeping them off the scoreboard. I am very excited to see the team competing at the level that I expect from them. I know it is much more enjoyable for them, and I am hoping that we can keep this going as we try to get ourselves into the MAC Tournament."
BGSU held a 20-17 advantage in total shot attempts, although the Bulls had a 9-7 margin in shots on goal. Coron made five stops for UB.
The Falcons had six corner kicks to the Bulls' total of one. The match featured 29 total fouls and four yellow cards.
BGSU now returns home for the final three matches of the regular season, beginning with Friday's (Oct. 20) game vs. Central Michigan. That contest, the first half of a soccer doubleheader, will begin at noon at Cochrane Field. BG then hosts Eastern Michigan (Oct. 22) and Toledo (Oct. 26) to close the regular season.
