Women's Soccer Needs Weekend Sweep to Ensure Playoff Spot

Playoff competition for the UB women's soccer team is like death and taxes. Usually, it's a given.

In 2002, however, the playoffs begin now with this weekend's final two regular season games.

Buffalo will battle the Kent State Golden Flashes (5-8-2, 2-5-2 MAC) today on the road, and the Ohio Bobcats at home at 1 p.m. Sunday at RAC Field. They are two must-win games if the Bulls want to reach the eight-team conference playoff.

"We practically need to win both games," said UB Head Coach Jean-A. Tassy. "That's what we needed last week. Our back is to the wall."

The Bulls (4-7-5, 3-5-2) were picked to finish fifth in the conference this year, but are currently tied for ninth place with Eastern Michigan. With the core of last year's team remaining, and upstarts such as goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert filling in, Buffalo could still do some damage if they make playoffs, provided they start scoring goals.

"All season long . we have not played bad," said Tassy. "It has been our inability to finish and to score that has haunted us throughout the season."

Last week, Buffalo suffered a heartbreaking loss to Bowling Green in overtime. In fact, the Bulls have played seven games in which their outcomes have been decided in overtime. Unfortunately, the Bulls are 1-1-5 in those games.

" When we make mistakes and we don't have two or three goals, then we suffer like we did this past weekend," Tassy explained.

Kent State, currently sitting in 11th place with a 2-5-2 record, presents a versatile front in which to combat the Bulls.

"We have many different players who will be able to be plugged into certain positions," stated Kent State coach Rob Marinaro.

The Golden Flashes have seven starters from last year returning. Much like Buffalo, KSU has lost a number of close games this season.

Ohio will be the tougher challenge for UB this weekend. The Bobcats (10-3-2, 6-2-2) come into the weekend in third place. They will play a non-conference game at Pittsburgh today, then make the trip up to Buffalo for Sunday's game.

"I think we match up nicely, because we have speed on the outside (like the Bobcats do)," said Tassy. "We have Brenna McJury and Pam Schneck, who are strong and fast."

The Bobcats lead or trail only by one place in almost all of the major offensive and defensive categories. They are first in the MAC with 193 shots, second in points with 68, second in goals with 23 (2.3 per game), and second in goals allowed with nine (0.90 per game).

Leading the Bobcats' charge is junior standout Christel Schiering. Not only does she lead the MAC in shots with 44 (4.4 per game), she is tied for second in points with 18, and goals with eight. She has 33 career goals at Ohio, tying her for the school record with a year left to play.

The eight MAC teams with the highest point accumulation are seeded and then begin a playoff tournament for the championship. The winner of the MAC would then go on the represent the conference in the NCAA championship. Points are determined by wins, losses, and ties - wins having a value of three points, ties having a value of one point, and losses giving no value.

Coming into Friday's games the race for the MAC's final few playoff spots is extremely close. The Bulls currently have three wins and two ties, totaling 11 points. Miami, Ball State, Ohio, and Bowling Green are mathematically already in the tournament. However, the last four are all within range of each other. Western Michigan sits as the fifth seed with 13 points, Central Michigan is next with 12 points. Toledo, Buffalo, Marshall, and Eastern Michigan all have 11 points.