Men's Soccer Tops Buffalo, 2-1

The Canisius College men's soccer team weathered a 30-minute delay for lightning to earn its second-straight victory over a local rival, winning at the University at Buffalo on Wednesday night, 2-1. With the victory, the Griffs improve to 2-5-0 on the season, while the Bulls fall to 4-4-1.

"The conditions weren't the best to play in tonight," said Canisius head coach Dermot McGrane. "I felt our team did a great job of competing and it was nice to see us score a couple of goals for the second-straight game. We now need to continue to carry this momentum into our next game."

After the two teams battled through a scoreless first 40 minutes, the game was delayed with 5:58 left in the first half due to lightning in the area. When the game resumed, the offense for both teams took the spotlight. The Bulls opened the scoring just 1:34 after the delay when a crossing pass got past Canisius goalkeeper Kareem Gray and Joey Merlo finished in the open net for the early lead.

The Griffs wasted no time answering back, scoring just 43 seconds following Buffalo's tally. Junior Regan Steele found classmate Jared Ott open on a corner kick and Ott blasted a shot from the top of the box and into the back of the net. The goal marked the second tally of the season for Ott.

Five minutes into the second half, junior Andrew Incho gave the Griffs the lead for good. The junior struck a perfect lob from 30 yards out, which floated over the Buffalo goalie and into the net for the game-winning tally. Senior J.J. Hughes added an assist on the score.

Gray anchored the defense from there as Canisius earned its second-straight win against a Big Four opponent. The junior netminder recorded six saves to earn the victory, including four second-half stops.

Jonathan Viscosi also recorded six saves in net for Buffalo, who held a slight 17-16 edge in shots during the contest.

Canisius looks to continue its winning ways on Sunday with a road contest at St. Francis (Pa.). Game time is set for 3 p.m.

Notes: Canisius earned back-to-back road victories for the first time since the 1998 season ... The Griffs, who earned a 2-1 victory against St. Bonaventure on Friday, also won consecutive games against Big Four rivals for the first time since 2007 ... Canisius is 4-0-1 in its last five games at UB Stadium, which includes victories against Detroit and Wright State at the 2008 UB Fall Classic.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Kareem Gray: GK; 6' 3"; Junior

#11 J.J. Hughes: M/D; 5' 10"; Senior

#8 Andrew Incho: F; 6' 1"; Junior

#5 Jared Ott: M; 5' 11"; Junior

#9 Regan Steele: D; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#1 Kareem Gray
: 6' 3"; Junior
: GK

#11 J.J. Hughes
: 5' 10"; Senior
: M/D

#8 Andrew Incho
: 6' 1"; Junior
: F

#5 Jared Ott
: 5' 11"; Junior
: M

#9 Regan Steele
: 6' 0"; Junior
: D