Forgettable Season Finally Ends

The women's soccer team traveled to Kent, Ohio hoping to end the season with its first Mid-American Conference win of the season.

Luck was not on the Bulls' side.

The Bulls (1-16-2, 0-9-2 MAC) fell to the Kent State Golden Flashes (4-10-4, 3-7-1 MAC) by a score of 7-1 in their final game of the year. Buffalo ended its season on a 15-game winless streak to add to the disappointment.

"It's a tough place to play at," said Bulls head coach Michael Thomas. "[We] started well, then Kent State scored one, and then, frankly, the wheels fell off the bus. We couldn't get back on the bus, and we couldn't get back on track."

It didn't take Kent State very long to take control of the match. At the 6:10 mark of the first half, Kent State defender Vanessa Salerno put the Golden Flashes on the board.

Ten minutes later, Salerno would get the second of her three goals of the contest. The early barrage of shots disoriented the Bulls and sent them into a downward spiral.

At the end of the first half, Bulls goalkeeper Danielle Quigley had already allowed four goals on six shots, prompting a change in net at halftime. When the Bulls returned to the field in the second half, senior goalkeeper Courtney McHale took control of the net.

A promising start to the second half came on an unassisted goal from Bulls sophomore forward Taylor Thompson. The tally marked Thompson's second goal of the season, as she managed to dribble past the tight Kent State defense to score from 12 yards away.

After finally making something positive happen, the Golden Flashes thrashed the Bulls momentum only a minute later. Salerno scored her third goal of the night to restore Kent State's four-goal lead over the Bulls.

Although this season has been tough to swallow for Thomas and his team, he looks to start turning things around next year.

"Obviously the results are disappointing," Thomas said. "What we have to do now is look at it and know we have an extremely young team with young players. Now we have to build off that and turn the playing time into results for next year."

The game was extremely physical, with a total of 38 fouls. Twenty of the fouls went against Buffalo. The physical play was just one of the many factors that led to the struggle for the Bulls.

Senior midfielder Lindsey Bailey played well in the loss and carried the Bulls offense for most of the match. She posted four of the eight Buffalo shots, and two of them were on net.

While the team struggled on offense, the defensive struggle was just as apparent. The prying Kent State offense was able to penetrate the defensive core and get a total of 12 shots on net. In the second half, McHale made three of the five total saves for the Bulls to end her career.

McHale is one of six seniors leaving the team after this season. The Bulls will be saying farewell to Bailey and her sister, Kristen, who plays defense. Defenders Nina Connell and Julie Dale along with forward Martina Pettenuzzo also played their final game for the Bulls.

Despite looking back on a poor showing this season, thoughts are hopeful that the Bulls will be able to come back and improve next year.