WOMEN'S SOCCER

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Natalia Crofut

BUFFALO, NY - Sophomore Natalia Crofut (East Aurora, NY/Iroquois) netted three goals to help the Buffalo women's soccer team cruise past Niagara, 3-0, in its home opener at RAC Field on Wednesday night. Crofut's hat trick was the first by a Bull since Elizabeth Pfeffer accomplished the feat in 1999.

The Bulls first got on the board at the 14:40 mark when Crofut took a pass from Emily Russell (Averill Park, NY/Academy of Holy Names), darted past a Niagara defender and put the ball past goalkeeper Katy Owings. The East Aurora, NY native struck again early in the second half as she received the ball from goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert (Dallas, TX/Bryan Adams) and weaved through several defenders to find the back of the net yet again. Crofut's final goal came at the 57:53 mark off a pretty centering pass from Brenna McJury (Brockport, NY/Brockport).

UB outshot Niagara 22-7 and Calvert and freshman Jennifer Thompson (Chagrin Falls, OH/Chagrin Falls) combined to keep a Buffalo opponent off of the scoreboard for the second straight game. Calvert made two saves to shut out Creighton on Aug. 30. The Bulls' defense did a nice job containing Niagara's Rosie Luzak. Last season, Luzak lead the nation in goals per game (1.39).

With the win, the Bulls improve to 2-1-0 on the season. Niagara falls to 1-2-0 with the loss. UB will next travel to Texas to play in the UTEP Invitational. The Bulls will face the host Miners on Friday and Grambling State on Sunday.