Golden Eagles Fall to Buffalo on First Night of Marquette Invitational

Friday, September 11

Valley Fields

7:05 PM

Marquette University

1-2

Buffalo

2-1

Buffalo

Marquette

Golden Eagles Fall to Buffalo on First Night of Marquette Invitational

9/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Sept. 11, 2009

NCAA Box Score (html) | NCAA Box Score (PDF)

MILWAUKEE -- On the first day of the second annual Marquette Invitational, the Golden Eagles fell to Buffalo, 4-0, on Friday night at Valley Fields.

Despite outshooting the Bulls 19-12, including a 12-1 dominance in the first half, head coach Louis Bennett's squad was unable to get on the scoreboard over their 90 minutes of play. MU also led in corner kicks, 19-1, tallying 13 corner kicks in the second half.

"Between the 18-yard boxes, we were at our best," said Bennett. "We created opportunities. We created set pieces, things that we have practiced, and we couldn't follow through. It's bitterly disappointing. We'll just simply have to be better. Where it counts -- in front of the goal -- we were by no means anywhere where we have to be."

Scoring opened in the 17th minute for Buffalo when senior Steffen Thoresen took a direct kick from 40 yards out and found the head of junior midfielder Rich Wilson, who finished the goal. The goal was UB's only shot of the half.

Marquette junior Matt Stummer almost tallied an assist when his cross from the right side of the field to sophomore Amilcar Herrera's header went just wide of the goal. Less than a minute later, senior Michael Greene teed up from the top of the box, but fired over the crossbar.

Buffalo's second shot of the game came after halfime, when junior Mike Unwin lofted a shot from inside midfield, trying to beat MU goalkeeper Matt Pyzdrowski, who was out of the box.

UB tallied the second goal in the 57th minute when senior Dan Bulley crossed the ball from the right side to Unwin. He settled the pass, turned and fired from 16 yards out to the lower left of the goal.

Within five minutes, head coach John Astudillo's team cushioned their lead with a third goal. Junior Casey Derkacz's shot rebounded inside the box, and sophomore Lucas Bassan one-touched for the finish.

At the 85:49 mark, UB freshman Risto Latti sent a diagonal from the right side to Unwin, who beat Pyzdrowski and netted the final goal of the game to give Buffalo a 4-0 advantage. The goal was Unwin's second of the game, on four shots and three shots on goal.

Pyzdrowski tallied two saves in 90 minutes, while UB sophomore keeper Nick Fetterman saved six MU threats. Buffalo led Marquette in fouls, 13-9, and each team was even with two yellow cards apiece. Buffalo's Alex Mihal and Derkacz received cautions, as did Marquette's Michael Greene and Anthony Selvaggi. Sophomore Calum Mallace's six shots were a career high.

"In the game of socccer, you want to create opportunity, and we had opportunity," said Bennett. "What we didn't do is take adavantage of the opportunity, and that's what's dissapointing. We'll have to be better in the final third, and we'll have to be better in the defensive third. They know how good we were, and they know how bad we were."

The Marquette Invitational will continue Sunday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles host UC-Irvine at 12:05 p.m. at Valley Fields. DePaul will host Buffalo in tournament action in Chicago.