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Bulls Husked By Northern Illinois In MAC Semifinals, 3-0

Ville Wahlsten

Both teams understood what was at stake, as play got physical from the start, with a total of six cards and 22 fouls were distributed by the end of the first half. By the end of the match, both teams combined to receive 11 cards, including two red cards distributed to Buffalo. For the final 36 minutes, the Bulls played two players down.

Daniel Bell

Bulls freshman Ville Wahlsten (Naantali, Finland/Naantali) had a chance to score short-handed, as he headed a shot from 15 yards out only to hit the top bar. Three minutes later, the Huskies managed to score the game’s first goal in the 32nd minute. Steve Algonzino lofted a shot up and over senior goalkeeper Daniel Bell (Brampton, Ontario/Notre Dame) after receiving the ball off a free kick from the right side. The 1-0 advantage was the first time the Huskies led the Bulls this season, outshooting their conference adversary, 9-3.

The two-man advantage created many offensive opportunities for the Huskies, including a two-on-one breakaway, which was thwarted by sophomore Dan Gwyther (London, England/Woodcote) before a shot was taken. UB battled forward, looking to tie the match up, making mulitple substitutions to fight off fatigue and frustration. In the 85th minute, the Huskies broke through and added two more scores, coming from Luis De La Cerda and Marcus McCarty. Despite the two-man disadvantage, the Bulls managed seven shots, five of which were on goal.

Dan Gwyther

In the earlier game, second-seeded Akron dismantled sixth-seeded Bowling Green, 8-2. Akron will meet Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Bulls finish the 2006 season with a 10-7-2 record, tied for the sixth best record in UB men’s soccer history.