Story Courtesy of Buffalo Athletic Communications
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team dodged thunderstorms and a second half charge by Canisius as they held on to defeat the Golden Griffins 2-1 on an eerie afternoon at Broadview Stadium.
Sophomore Gabriella Capra scored her first career goal in the second minute, and Eva Blatz launched the game-winner from midfield in the 67th minute.
The Bulls broke through early as Jayda Schoburgh played a ball to Emma Patti who then found Capra in the middle of the box, and she drilled a shot into the back of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
It was a possession battle for most of the half, but the Bulls had another good chance as Adriana Victoriano played a ball into the box that got redirected to the foot of Schoburgh who fired a shot, but it sailed just wide of target, and the game would remain scoreless at the break. The Bulls held the Golden Griffins without a shot attempt in the first half.
Buffalo continued to attack to start the second half as Stephanie Tator found space, maneuvered around her defender and ripped a shot but it sailed high and out of play. Tator was at it again in the 65th minute as she broke free at the top of the box and drilled a shot that clanged off the crossbar and out of play.
Canisius got evened the game in the 67th minute as Mary Molloy played a free kick into the box that eventually found Azaria Fagan and she knocked it home to tie the game at one.
Buffalo would answer just seconds later though, as Eva Poissant took the ensuing kick off and passed to Blatz who absolutely drilled a strike into the back of the net from just inside midfield to put the Bulls up 2-1 and that would be the final as Lexie Thompson was able to make one last save in the 85th minute to thwart a final attempt from the visitors.
Buffalo outshot Canisius 12-2, including a 6-3 edge in shots on goal, while maintaining a 5-1 edge in corner kick opportunities. Thompson made one save on the day while Alexa Turmel made three stops for the Golden Griffins.
"Credit to Canisius, they are always up for these games, and they came out ready to fight," said head coach Shawn Burke. "We've got some things that we need to figure out. We have young players and there is a learning curve with that, but we also have an experienced core, and we are too up and down right now as a group, and we must be a little bit steadier and not get rattled in these moments. Winning is hard and we found one today so now it's time to learn and move on."
