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BUFFALO, NY - After battling hard to tie the contest in the late stages, the University at Buffalo men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 double-overtime decision to Northern Illinois in a cold and steady rain on Friday night at RAC Field.

Michael Battiste

Northern Illinois scored its first goal of the game at the 7:22 mark when Thomas Meiner took a centering pass from Matt Stukenberg and one-timed it just beneath a sprawling Brian Wozniak (Canton, MI/Plymouth Salem). The score remained 1-0 until a determined Bulls squad, refusing to give up, scored to tie the contest in the 83rd minute. Michael Battiste (Rexford, NY/Niskayuna) chipped the ball in from 30 yards out for the first goal of his career. Cheick Diarra (Hillsborough, NJ/John Bartram) was awarded the assist on the play. The score remained deadlocked through regulation and the first overtime. In the fourth minute of the second overtime, Huskie midfielder Eric O'Reilly received the ball, made some fancy moves and was able to score in traffic in front of the net for the gamewinner. It was O'Reilly's first career goal.

The loss drops the Bulls to 5-6-1 overall and 2-2-0 in the MAC. Northern Illinois improves to 3-11-0 overall and 1-2-0 in the conference. UB will play its final home game of the regular season on Sunday when they face Kentucky at 2 pm.