CORTLAND, NY – The Buffalo State men's soccer team fell short in its bid to reach a SUNYAC championship game for the first time since 1984, dropping a 2-1 decision to Cortland in the SUNYAC Semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Cortland – 2, Buffalo State – 1

LOCATION:  T. Fred Holloway Field – Cortland, NY

RECORDS:  Cortland (15-2-1, 8-1-0 SUNYAC), Buffalo State (13-6-1, 5-3-1 SUNYAC)

INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

-Pa Lu (Buffalo, NY/I-Prep) scored the lone goal for Buffalo State.

-Theo Pencic (Oslo,Norway/Heltberg) provided the assist on the goal.

-Musa Abdulla (Buffalo, NY) led the Bengals with three shots on goal.

-Max Shoemaker (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Wheatfield) made eight saves in goal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-The game began with occasional snow flurries and poor field conditions, as both teams lost their footing multiple times in the opening 10 minutes.

-An excellent save by Shoemaker in the 14th minute on a header off a corner kick play by the Red Dragons kept the game scoreless.

-Cortland struck first in the 28th minute when Riley Williams headed home a corner kick cross from Lukas Rubio.

-Buffalo state had their best chances of the first half in the 30th minute, but Moe Saif (Buffalo, NY/Coppell, TX) and Pencic had consecutive shots blocked by Cortland defenders.

-Saif had a long-range shot in the 65th minute from outside the box stopped by a diving save by the Cortland goalkeeper.

-The Dragons doubled their advantage in the 76th minute from the penalty spot after a foul in the box by a Buffalo State defender.

-Lu pulled the Bengals to within one in the 82nd minute with a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

-The Bengals pushed forward for another in the remaining time, but were unable to find the equalizer as the Red Dragons held on.

FOR THE FOES

Williams and Blake Aronson scored the Cortland goals.

UP NEXT

Buffalo State will need to hope for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will happen on Nov. 8.