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KALAMAZOO, MI - The Buffalo men's soccer team kept its season alive Friday morning as it defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Bulls received two goals from freshman Lee Catchpole (Norwich, England/Bungay) who made his return to the Bulls' lineup after missing the last seven games with an ankle injury. The win marks just the third time the Bulls have won a tournament game since they joined the MAC in 1998, and it was their first win in the post-season since they defeated Akron in the quarterfinals in 2000.

Lee Catchpole

The Bulls and Catchpole got off to an early start when they converted on a penalty kick in the 10th minute of play. The Huskies would get even in the 21st minute and the teams took a 1-1 tie into halftime. The game remained tied until the 71st minute when freshman Shyle Braithwaite (Brampton, Ontario/Philip Pocock Catholic) found Catchpole, who was able to put it past the Huskies' goalkeeper.

Starting for the 16th time in 17 games, sophomore goalkeeper Dan Bell (Brampton, Ontario/Notre Dame) made four saves for his eighth win of the season.

Despite this only being Catchpole's 10th game of the season, he now has five goals which leads the team and he now has 12 points, which makes him the only Buffalo player to reach double digits in points this season.

With the loss, the Huskies have dropped to 12-7 on the year and have been eliminated from the 2004 MAC Tournament. The Bulls have improved their record to 8-7-2 and they will play the Akron Zips, who won their quarterfinal game over Bowling Green 1-0. That game will be at 2 p.m. in Kalamazoo, MI on Sunday, November 7. Akron defeated the Bulls 1-0 in their only meeting of the regular season. The Bulls have never played in the MAC championship game.