It was good for the UB women's soccer team to come home Sunday to RAC field. It was there, they thought, that the team could compose itself and challenge once again for MAC competition. When Marshall came in with an attitude, the Bulls got angry.
Three yellow cards and one red card were dispensed to the Marshall Thundering Herd as they fell to the Bulls 2-1 Sunday. Freshman Natalia Crofut and junior Emily Russell netted the goals for UB in the first and second half, respectively. UB is now 3-4-1 in the conference and 4-6-4 overall. Marshall falls to 2-4-1 in the conference and 5-6-1 overall.
The game got dicey when UB forward Jenny Dannecker brushed Marshall goalie Ashleigh Woods halfway through the first half. Woods immediately pushed Dannecker, and Dannecker was then crushed by Marshall defenseman Jorie Grundstrom - drawing a yellow card. Dannecker left the field for the half, but would return near the end of the game.
Crofut, who had a fast game along with many of the other UB forwards, banked a shot off of a Marshall defenseman and the right goalpost to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead. Crofut not only banked off two objects, but did it without her shoe.
"The defenseman stepped on the back of my heel, and my shoe came off, so I tried it and it ricochet," Crofut said. "It was an ugly shot, but it went in right?"
At the start of the second half Woods collided with Crofut and injured her right leg. When Marshall assistant coach Richard Drake took to the field to check on her, he exchanged words with the referee. He was awarded a yellow card, then a red one, and was ejected from the field.
Woods would leave under her own power, but was replaced by goalie Sarah Barber, a freshman from Cincinnati. Moments after entering the game Barber was forced to handle a penalty kick from Russell. She failed, and the Buffalo junior had her first goal of the season.
As time became short for Marshall, they continued to press in the Bulls zone until they were rewarded for the hard play with a penalty shot on UB goaltender Anna-Lesa Calvert. Marshall converted with less than ten minutes remaining to make the game close again at 2-1.
"I should've had that shot." Calvert said.
While the penalty shot was a tough save to make for Calvert, she would come up big in the final few minutes making key saves to keep the score in the Bulls' favor. On the day the UB netminder made four saves.
The team is looking forward to playing Toledo and Bowling Green at home next weekend.
For UB to get back into MAC conference contention Calvert knows that the Bulls have to play hard.
