NIU women’s soccer (6-3-3, 0-2-2 MAC) was defeated on the road 3-0 against the University at Buffalo Bulls (8-1-2, 3-1 MAC).
“I thought the game was very even, they had their moments capitalized,” said NIU women’s soccer head coach Michael O’Neill. “I think what sets them aside from the rest of the MAC (Mid-American Conference) is their defensive stability. Thought the center backs, at least two of them, were very good. Goalkeeper, obviously very good. But going forward, you know, they’ve got some quality, and they take their chances. So, you know, credit to them.”
Today’s game brought the Huskies’ conference record to 2 draws and 2 losses.
“We’re playing some really good soccer, playing some really good things. It’s just the details in these moments that are winning and losing games,” O’Neill said. “You know, people maybe that don’t see the day to day interactions, maybe think you know your 0-2-2, you’ve got to change something here. But we have to continue to do the things we’re doing because we know we’re right there and cleaning up against some really fine details defensively that will limit the opponent and put us in better position. So we’re not far away, we’re not far away at all.”
In the 14th minute of play Buffalo senior forward Jasmine Guerber opened up the scoring after an assist from Buffalo senior midfielder Kaya Schultz.
Before the end of the half Buffalo senior forward Ariana Zumpano scored the Bulls’ second goal in the 40th minute to extend Buffalo’s lead.
The second half of the game remained scoreless until the 73rd minute of the game when Zumpano scored her second of the night.
“We just lacked a little bit of urgency and pressure on the ball, so they’re able to kind of get their head up and pick a pass, especially with our higher line, aggressive line, you know, it was played into their hands,” O’Neill said. “And then, you know, second and third goals both came against the run of play. For me, we were attacking transitional moments, and they were able to create those chances and capitalize.”
The Huskies out shot the Bulls in shots on target 8-7, but none of those shots ended up in the back of the net.
“Some really tough moments today, balls cleared off the line, fantastic goalkeeper for Buffalo, making some world class saves,” O’Neill said. “It’s the perseverance piece for me, and I turn up on Tuesday, working hard at your craft, continue to do the things that are creating the chances, first and foremost, because if you weren’t creating chances, then it’s a different conversation, we are creating chances, not putting the ball on the back of the net, although it being, you know, a simple fix, it does take, you know, a lot of mental resilience and perseverance to continue to do those things.
Bulls sophomore goalkeeper Lexie Thompson recorded 8 saves, including a top corner shot from Huskies sophomore forward Tyra King.
“Probably the best goalkeeper I’ve seen this year (Thompson), and we faced some good teams as well. You know in a different world, she, I mean, it sounds crazy because we lost three nil, but she probably won them the game,” O’Neill said. “You know, in terms of the momentum that she built for them, we could have gone one, zero, we could have gone one one could have been two. There’s three moments of the first half all in different areas of the field, or times of the first half that she really kind of came in clutch.”
Despite being down 3-0, Huskies graduate student goalkeeper Ary Purifoy had two big stops towards the end of the game, in the 86th minute and 88th minute of the game.
Purifoy ended with 4 saves on the day.
“Ary’s (Purifoy’s) always been, you know, great shots, she’s made some big saves this year no doubt she’ll continue to do that for the rest of the season,” O’Neill said. “You know, and it’s tough because she’s getting, she’s getting some high percentage chances against her, so she’s up against it a lot of the time.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies return to MAC conference play at noon Saturday to face off against the Bowling Green State University Falcons at Cochrane Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.
