Words cannot accurately portray the feeling of winning a championship in a sport. All those hours of grueling practice, all those hard-fought games, playing through injuries and inclement weather, all become worth it in the end when the players stand there on the field, holding that trophy high, rejoicing with their teammates.
The UB men's soccer team was not able to experience this joyful sensation last year after a demoralizing first round loss to Bowling Green 1-0 in triple over-time. This year, they have soldiered through the season to earn another berth in the MAC tournament to find themselves facing the University of Kentucky in a first round quarterfinal game.
Buffalo (3-3-0 MAC, 6-7-1), playing as the fourth seed, will travel to Marshall's Sam Hood Field in Huntington, W.V., to play against the Kentucky Wildcats (2-3-0 MAC, 9-8-0) on Friday at 2 p.m. Kentucky, the fifth seed, seems to have an immediate advantage in terms of travel time, as it is only 125 miles to get from Lexington, Ky., to Huntington, while it takes 490 miles to get from Buffalo to Huntington.
To say that Kentucky is a formidable opponent is an understatement. They finished the 2001 season 14-6-1, with a 6-0-0 MAC record. They have won the past three MAC tournaments, with 21 goals in 17 games, while allowing their opponents only 11. They are 4-1-0 all time against the Bulls and have outscored Buffalo eleven goals to five in five prior games. They are the only team in the MAC to have not been shutout this season.
Despite the statistical lopsidedness, the Bulls know that they can beat Kentucky, since they have done it before. Back on Oct. 20, the Bulls defeated the Wildcats 2-1 at RAC field.
The Wildcat squad is led by seniors J.D. Stephenson on the defensive side and Chris McDaniel on offense. They are 8-0 in MAC tournament play and have won a championship every year they have played. Their leading scorer is Jamal Shteiwi, who has six goals and one assist for 13 points, followed closely by Nathan Fleetwood with three goals and six assists (first in Wildcat history to have two consecutive seasons with at least six assists), freshman Dani Kamras with four goals and three assists, and McDaniel has three goals and one assist on the year.
Buffalo features a well-rounded team with one of the key factors overlooked by many people - experience. Fifteen players from last year's squad return, nine of them starters. Senior Geoff Thompson is leading the team with seven goals and 14 points thus far this season. Thompson's seven goals are the most since 1999 where Tim Songer and Steve Butcher had 11 and 14 goals respectively. Senior captain Mike Peplinski is proving that his selection to the first team All-MAC and second team All-Region was no fluke, as he is ranked second on the team in goals, with four total. Junior captain Dave Pidgeon leads the team in assists with four.
The Bulls midfield is loaded, with all of last year's starters returning. Sophomore Justin Higgins and senior Dan Wielechowski had a combined four goals and two assists in 2001 and have three goals currently.
On the defensive side, the Bulls lost second team All-MAC selection Bill Norberg and Kevin Pitra, both of whom were captains last year. Filling in their shoes are Mike Geller and Jason Seymour. Both Brian Wozniak and Chris Vavrina are tough goalies that should give the Kentucky offense a hard time during Friday's game. Wozniak leads the team in saves with 61, while Vavrina has the lowest goals-against average with a 0.71.
The winner of the game will encounter the Bowling Green Falcons in the semifinals on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. The quarterfinals and semifinals of the MAC Men's Soccer Tournament are all played at Marshall University. The championship game takes place at the home of the highest remaining seed on Nov. 16.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
