WOMEN'S SOCCER

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WEST POINT, NY - Two goals in the first six minutes and three in the first half were more than enough for the University at Buffalo women's soccer team, as it held on to upset host Army, 3-2, in the second round of the BAE Systems Classic on Sunday afternoon.

All three goals were aided and abetted by freshmen, as Janessa Banwell (Toronto, Ontario/Birchmount Park) scored first and Brooke McCalla (Pickering, Ontario/Dunbarton) scored the second goal and assisted on the third as Buffalo (1-1 overall) shocked Army (1-1 overall), ranked 12th in the Northeast Region in SoccerBuzz.com's preseason poll.

Lehigh, who beat Buffalo 2-0 on Friday, took the tournament title with a 1-0 overtime win against Manhattan, who fell 3-0 to Army in the first round of the classic.

Natalia Crofut

Buffalo rolled to a quick 2-0 lead as Banwell scored her first career goal on a cross from senior Natalia Crofut (East Aurora, NY/Iroquois) in the fourth minute. McCalla, Banwell's travel team teammate on the Unionville-Milliken Soccer Club, added her first career goal forty-nine seconds later as a feed from junior Jessica Roesch (Centennial, CO/Grandview) helped force Army goaltender Rebecca Garcia from the box, allowing McCalla to launch a 25-yarder into the net.

McCalla assisted on another tally before the half to give Buffalo a large 3-0 lead, as she delivered a cross to sophomore Kathleen Fage (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) who deposited the shot into the opposite corner.

Jessica Roesch

Army came storming back in the second half, though, as Pia White was able to dribble down the right side of the field and beat Buffalo senior Anna-Lesa Calvert (Dallas, TX/Bryan Adams) with a shot to the left corner in the 71st minute.

Two minutes later, Molly Byrnes found the back of the net after beating Calvert to the right. The Black Knights rally fell short there, though, as Calvert stopped eight shots to preserve the win as the Knights outshot the Bulls, 18-17.

Calvert, who made 12 saves while allowing four goals in the tournament, was named to the All-Tournament team. The senior goalkeeper became just the fourth UB goalkeeper to save 250 shots in her career with her seventh save against Army.

Crofut, who is now nine points shy of tying Kent State's Nicki Downey and Ohio's Abby Leopold with 55 career points, 24th in MAC history, also made the All-Tournament team along with Roesch, who rounded out UB's three selections.

The Bulls face another tough test coming up as they travel to Orlando, FL on Friday to face Jacksonville in the opening round of the Central Florida Tournament in a 4:00 pm tilt. On Sunday, Buffalo plays Central Florida, ranked sixth in the Southeast Region preseason poll by Soccerbuzz.com.