Despite playing one of their most complete contests of the young season, the Canisius College women's soccer team fell to Big Four rival University at Buffalo, 2-0, on Thursday evening at UB Stadium. The Bulls relied on a pair of first-half goals to capture their first victory of the season, including a goal in the first four minutes of play.
Entering the contest with 12 combined shot in their two previous games, the Golden Griffins (0-3-0) registered 14 shots in the contest, showing an improvement on offense. However, the Griffs also allowed their highest total of shots to an opponent this season, 22.
"Overall, its probably our best perfomance of the three games but this is a Division I soccer team and we are 0-3," said head coach Jim Wendling. "So our best performance is still not good enough."
The difference came in shots on goal, as Buffalo (1-1-0) held a 14-3 advantage, including a 9-1 edge in the first half alone.
The Bulls came out aggressively, taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute of the contest. Forward Katie Roberts scooped up a rebound off Canisius goalkeeper Megan Tock on an original shot by fellow forward Katie Kerr.
After picking up the helper on the first goal, Kerr scored her first goal of the season in the 35th minute. Positioned in the rightside of the six-yard box, Kerr settled a flick pass from forward Stephanie Velez to beat Tock for the Bulls' 2-0 lead.
The Griffs had a pair of solid scoring attempts off headers in the second half.
The first came with under 20 minutes remaining off a pass from sophomore Mallory Illsley to fellow sophomore Megan Mahoney. Mahoney's header fell just to the left of the goal with the Bulls goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon snatching the ball away.
The Griffs' second opportunity came in the final 70 seconds, as junior Kelly McMahon fed junior Brianna Smith a volley with Smith going aerial with Wheldon making a diving save.
"Our attack was a lot better and we had more quality in the attacking third. We made two bad mistakes, giving up two bad goals. You can't do that when you are playing a good team."
Although Tock recorded the loss, she set a career game-high in saves with 12. The goalkeeper kept the Griffs in the contest, as the Bulls managed to land
Goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon picked her up the win for the Bulls with three saves.
Among Canisius' 14 total shots, five Griffs registered a pair of shots each. The Bulls were led by Kerr with five shots, including a goal and an assist.
"We made some progress and we just need to keep getting better every game. We need to keep working hard like we always have," said Wendling.
The Griffs will return to action on Friday, Aug. 31 at Youngstown State with the game set for 5 p.m.
