The opposition hasn't had much success scoring against the women's soccer team thus far this season.
The defense, led by sophomore goalkeeper Ainsley Wheldon, has recorded nine shutouts so far.
Buffalo (8-2-2, 1-1-2 Mid-American Conference) is coming off a road trip in which it shutout against Central Michigan (8-1-3, 2-0-2 MAC). However, Buffalo failed to score a goal in that game either. Then the team played to a 2-2 tie against winless Eastern Michigan (0-9-2, 0-3-1 MAC).
In order to maintain momentum, the Bulls will need to match their intensity from the non-conference games to get two solid wins this weekend at home when they face Northern Illinois (1-9-2, 0-4 MAC) and Western Michigan (6-6-0, 2-2 MAC).
Buffalo's match against Northern Illinois should serve as a welcome home workout to regain confidence after the Bulls were almost upset by Eastern Michigan. Northern Illinois is at a great disadvantage against a Buffalo team boasting nationally-ranked talent.
Wheldon enters this game with 78 saves. That is more than twice as much as Northern Illinois' Amy Carr, who only has 38 on the season, with 18 goals allowed. Wheldon has only allowed seven.
The teams are closely matched on offense, as each squad has mustered 138 shots. Opponents have outshot both of them. However, Buffalo has connected on more shots to outscore its opponents 17-7. The team's forwards – Freshman Katie Roberts, junior Taylor Thompson, and senior Aubrey Stahl – have combined for over 50 percent of the Bulls' goals this year. They must remain aggressive in order to trump Huskies' forward Frances Boukidis, who enters with five goals.
Buffalo will have a more challenging contest in the latter of the games, as the Bulls take on a Western Michigan team that has a .500 win percentage. Unlike the Huskies, the Broncos of WMU have outshot the teams they have played.
However, goalkeeper Michelle Watson is going to have the daunting task of emulating the dominance of Wheldon. Watson has just 37 saves, with 14 goals allowed on the season.
If Buffalo can get scores from its trio of Roberts, Stahl, and Thompson, Western Michigan forwards Anina Cicerone and Stephanie Skowneski will have a great amount of pressure on them.
This weekend should have an abundance of exciting plays. The Bulls will face Northern Illinois on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then Western Michigan on Sunday at 11 a.m. at UB Stadium.
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