Bulls Edged by Titans 3-1

Unwin tallies sixth goal of the season

DETROIT, MI – The University at Buffalo men's soccer team dropped its non-conference contest on Tuesday afternoon to Detroit Mercy, 3-1 at Titan Field. In the ninth minute, the Bulls jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off an individual effort by junior Mike Unwin for his sixth goal of the season. Following a lightning delay in the 25th minute, the Titans managed to score three unanswered goals to capture the victory.

Facing off one-on-one against the last Titans' defender, Unwin, the Bulls' leading goal scorer, sped towards the net beating the defender. Walking in alone on the Detroit goalkeeper Brandon Waterstradt, Unwin sent a low ball into the left-hand corner of the goal out of the grasp of Watersradt for a UB 1-0 lead.

Mike Unwin

On the Bulls' next shot of the half, Unwin came close to giving the Bulls a 2-0 lead as he rang a shot off the crossbar.

With the Bulls' controlling the momentum of the contest, play was stopped in the 25th minute due to lightning.  The delay allowed the Titans to regroup and take control of the contest.

Following a save by Waterstradt, the Titans came on a counter attack in the 33rd minute. Taking possession of the ball, defender Mike Chiandussi fed a long pass down the right side to forward Sam Seppo. Receiving the long ball from Chiandussi, Seppo sped towards the net beating the last Buffalo defender to tie the contest at 1-1.

On the Titans' third unanswered shot of the second half, Seppo broke the tied contest to put the Titans in the lead 2-1 in the 69th minute. Seppo set up his shot on the right side of the box only to cross the ball into the lower left corner of the goal.

In the 74th minute, the Titans took a 3-1 lead. With the Titans deep in the Bulls end, their first shot attempt was blocked. In the scrum following the first shot, midfielder Nate Robinson slid the ball to Chiandussi, who pulled back on his original shot to chip the ball into the left side of the goal.

"The stoppage affected our game. Following the stoppage, we were not executing as compared to the way we were before," said head coach John Astudillo. "I am confident that our players will bounce back. They have done so in the past and I expect them to do it again."

The Bulls held an 11-10 shot advantage as Unwin accounted for six of their total shots.

In his second career start, Ryan Lewis recorded five saves in 90 minutes of action.

The Bulls (5-6, 0-1 MAC) will continue on the road as they return to Mid-American Conference action against host Northern Illinois on Sunday, October 11 at 1:00 pm.