SEAN MCGRATH
Assistant Sports Editor
On Saturday, the men’s Blue Devil soccer team traveled to Buffalo State College to take on the Bengals in SUNYAC play. Freshman defenseman Niall Curran scored in the 9th minute and 14th minute to put the Bengals down 2-0 with a whole half to play.
On a throw-in from sophomore defenseman Dylan Duncan, Curran was able to put a head on the ball and put it into the net past Bengal goalkeeper, Robby Kuhnle. Only five minutes passed until Curran connected on a loose ball in a scramble in front of the Buffalo net, putting the Devils up, 2-0.
Fredonia made it 3-0 when senior midfielder Chase Lipshie headed the ball off of Mike Biggane’s direct kick.
At the half, the scoreboard read, 3-0. Fredonia beat the Bengals in shots, 8-4.
To start the half, Buffalo State replaced Kuhnle with their other goalkeeper, Ian Huntoon.
The game played pretty evenly, with Buffalo State knocking on the door of Fredonia Goalkeeper A.J. Grecco.
The answer came in the 60th minute when junior Forward Dylan Ross was able to elude Fredonia’s defenders and shoot the ball into the lower left corner of the net.
Sam Greco of Fredonia made the game 4-1 in the 88th minute and then Ivan Vulin for Buffalo State in the 89th minute.
At the end of the game, Fredonia edged Buffalo State in shots 12-11 and 6-5 in corner kicks.
“Well we are playing a different tactical system since we played John Carroll. We lost two heartbreakers on the road at Brockport and Geneseo and were able to score four goal against Buffalo State,” said Coach P.J. Gondek. “Defensively we are a bit young but we are getting older everyday. I think we are headed in the right direction. We are going to have to keep our compete level up. If we do that we will be right there.
“No particular player is more important. We are going to win as a group.” With the win, Fredonia stands at 4-7 overall and 1-2 SUNYAC, with Buffalo State at 3-6 and 0-3. Fredonia takes on Cortland at home Friday at 4 p.m. for Alumni Weekend to continue their SUNYAC play.