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UC Santa Cruz Tournament serves as big test for Bengals
By Aaron Garland
On September 12, 2012
The Buffalo State women's soccer team continued an ambitious out-of-conference schedule over the
weekend with two losses in the University of California at the Santa Cruz tournament.
The Bengals (0-4, 0-0 SUNYAC) scheduled four of their first five games against teams that qualified for
the Division III NCAA Tournament a year ago. The two latest games featured a 3-1 loss to host UC Santa
Cruz (3-2) and a 1-0 defeat against Chapman University (4-0).
Head coach Nick DeMarsh considers the SUNYAC to be one of the toughest conferences in the country,
which is why he welcomes the test of playing a schedule featuring women's soccer powers.
"I thought, and I still think, that by playing teams that are as good or better, and most likely better,
than the teams in the (SUNYAC) conference, that should get us prepared for conference play," he
said. "Maybe to be in a little bit over our heads might be a good thing."
Junior defender Jordan Dudish seemed to welcome that strategy.
"We definitely got to see what it would be like to make it to the NCAA Tournament and play teams
of that caliber and I think it's definitely going to prepare us for our conference games - playing the
tougher competition," she said.
In Friday's game, Santa Cruz took the lead early against the Bengals when Antonia Darragh scored in the
ninth minute. It didn't take long for the Bengals to respond as senior forward Melissa Mahoney scored
unassisted in the 20th minute to tie the game.
"In the first half we were extremely competitive and we were level with them," DeMarsh said.
DeMarsh said he felt his team's play dropped off a bit in the second half. The Banana Slugs broke
through with two goals 25 seconds apart in the 82nd minute to prevail with the 3-1 victory. The game-
winning goal was scored on a set-piece header from about 35 yards out.
"They were a better passing team and in the second half they spread us out and they put their attacking
shape all over us and we did a lot of chasing, we had a lot of injuries, we were fatigued and they wore us
down," DeMarsh said. "(In) the second half they outplayed us, that's for sure."
Santa Cruz held an advantage in shots (16-7) and corner kicks (10-1). Playing in her first game of the
season due to injury, sophomore goalkeeper Linda Banfield made three saves. She was satisfied with the
defensive play in front of her, but feels more attacking must be in the team's future.
"I think we have a really strong defense this year," Banfield said. "We've been really focusing on our
shape at practice, so we've been applying that really well during the games and I think we need to start
working on more midfield and goal scoring at this point, but I think we have a really strong and tight-knit
defense for such an early season."
Sunday's game against Chapman saw the Bengals allow a fluke goal in the second minute when the ball
deflected off of Mahoney and into the net. The defense was otherwise strong but the offense could not
capitalize on its opportunities. Though Chapman held the advantage in total shots (15-8), Buffalo State
fired seven of those on net while Chapman only put four on target.
Senior Sara Sweeney and freshman Kristin Seiferth led the team with two shots on target apiece and
Banfield finished with three saves. Dudish made positive note of the team's chemistry thus far, but
with the Bengals only scoring two goals through four games, also feels they need improvement in the
offensive end.
"We're playing well together, we just need to get that final offensive push to get (the ball) in the back of
the net," said Dudish, who had a shot on target and played 88 minutes against Santa Cruz. "That's really
all that we're not getting right now. Our chemistry together is really good."
The Bengals will continue their challenging slate of games Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. when they travel
to Geneva to face the No. 1 team in the nation, William Smith (3-0-1). Their last non-conference game
before SUNYAC play begins will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pittsburgh-Bradford.
"For me, it's an honor to get to play the best team in the country," DeMarsh said. "I feel like it's
something that every player works for, and if you're a real player and a competitor, you're not afraid of
that game - you want that game, and you relish the opportunity to compete at that level."
Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com.
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