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Bulls Clinch Spot in MAC Playoffs

The University at Buffalo men's soccer team earned a trip to the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 2-0 win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night. The win improved the Bulls to 8-7-1 overall and 3-2 in league play. It will be the Bulls' second straight year in making the MAC Tournament after missing the league playoffs in 2009, the first year that the league went to a four-team format.

Kowal With the Game Winner

UB opened the scoring early in the match as Maksym Kowal scored his fourth goal of the season off a pass from Andy Tiedt at 14:53. Kowal took Tiedt's crossing pass from the right side of the box and put his shot just inside the right post for what would eventually become the game-winning goal. Kowal tied for the team lead in game-winners with Tiedt and Nate Woods with his second of the season. For the year, the junior is second on the team with 11 points and tied for second with Joey Merlo with four goals.

Smith Becomes a First-Timer

Junior Tony Smith netted his first goal of the season with a second half marker which gave UB the eventual 2-0 victory. Smith, who played his first two seasons at North Iowa Area CC, took Lukas Fedler's shot from 20 yards out and redirected past FAU goalkeeper Jeremy Crumpton at 51:58. Smith has appeared in eight games this season with six starts after becoming eligible in late September.

Aubrey Strong in Goal

The Bulls gave regular goalkeeper Jonathan Viscosi the night off in favor of sophomore Ryan Aubrey. Aubrey gained his first start in goal since September 25 at Duquesne and earned his first shutout of the season and third of his career. The Bulls' defense did not allow a first half shot to the Owls as FAU did not get a shot off until the 54th minute and finished with five total shots as Aubrey finished with one save for the Bulls.

Scouting the Hawks

The Bulls conclude the regular season on Wednesday, November 2 when they host Hartwick at UB Stadium at 7:30 pm. The Hawks come into the contest with a 5-5-4 overall record and are 1-1-2 in the MAC after tying Bowling Green (1-1) on October 22 and Western Michigan (4-4) on October 29. Greg Mathers leads the team with six goals and four assists for 16 points. Four players, Cleyon Brown, Simon Greatwich, Tim Crawford and Jherrett Maroney, each have scored two goals. Hartwick leads the all-time series with the Bulls at 4-2-1, although the Bulls won last season's meeting in Oneonta, 1-0, on September 26 as Hartwick allowed an own goal for the only score.