BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo State men's soccer scored one goal in the first half, and then turned up the pressure in the second half to score two more goals as they handed New Paltz their first conference loss of the season in a 3-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at Coyer Field.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 3, New Paltz – 1
LOCATION:  Coyer Field – Buffalo, NY
RECORDS:  Buffalo State (11-3-1, 3-2-1 SUNYAC), New Paltz (11-3-0, 6-1-0 SUNYAC)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Theo Pencic (Oslo, Norway/Heltberg) led the Bengals with 6 shots and added one goal and one assist.
• Trevor Moreland (Newfane, NY/Newfane) and Musa Abdulla (Lackawanna, NY) added goals for Buffalo State.
• Anthony Roncone (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca East) chipped in an assist on the final Bengal goal.
• Max Shoemaker (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) made six saves to record the victory in goal.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Moreland scored the first goal of the game in the 21^st minute to give the Bengals a 1-0 lead. After having his initial cross on a corner headed back out to him, Moreland curled a left-footed shot through a scrum in front of goal and past the goalkeeper.
• Shoemaker made an excellent save at close range in the 39^th minute to preserve the Buffalo State lead.
• Just three minutes into the second half, Pencic dribbled around the keeper, but shot just wide with his left foor from a very tight angle.
• Buffalo State doubled the lead in the 52^nd minute from very solid passing. Roncone sent a pass from down the left sideline to Pencic in the middle of the field, who slid a one-touch pass to Abdullah. Abdullah took a great first touch, and curled the ball into the top right corner of the net with his right foot.
• Just one minute later, Pencic headed just wide of the post off a pass from Abdullah.
• In the 79^th minute, defender Jonathan Tola made a great block to deny Pencic after he had once again dribbled around the goalkeeper.
• Pencic finally got his goal in the 86^th minute when Roncone, streaking down the left sideline, slid a pass right in front of goal. Pencic was able to tap the ball into the open net for a 3-0 lead.
• New Paltz pulled within two in the 88^th minute when Tola sent a pass over the top of the defense to Mazzella, who finished with his right foot.
• Buffalo State outshot New Paltz 15-13, but the Hawks held the 7-6 advantage in shots on goal.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Phillip Varner led the Hawks with four shots, three on goal.

 
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will play a non-conference matchup at Hobart on Wednesday, before  wrapping up the SUNYAC regular season next weekend at Geneseo on Friday and at Brockport on Saturday.