BUFFALO, N.Y.— A goal by Erin Valente (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) in the 27^th minute gave the Buffalo State women's soccer team an early lead, and the entire team contributed to keeping a clean sheet for the 1-0 victory on Tuesday night at Coyer Field.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 1, Cazenovia – 0
LOCATION:  Coyer Field – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS:  Buffalo State (1-2), Cazenovia (1-2)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Junior goalkeeper Bella Vene (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) made seven saves for the Bengals, including one in the closing minutes to preserve the victory.
• Valente led the Buffalo State offense with the three shots on goal, the most important being the one that found the back of the net for the game-winner.
• Heather Moriarty (Mount Morris, N.Y./Keshequa Central) had the assist on Valente's goal, and also had one shot on goal.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Vene made a strong save in the opening 10 minutes to deny a Wildcat attacker and keep the game scoreless.  
• Buffalo State took the lead when a pass from the defense was headed by Moriarty into the path of Valente, who sprinted past a defender and calmly slotted the ball just out of the goalkeeper's reach and into the bottom left corner of the net.  
• The Bengals nearly capitalized on a Cazenovia mistake in the 62^nd minute when Carm Mercurio (Rome, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) whipped a cross into the box from the left side. The Wildcat goalkeeper bobbled the ball but was able to recover before an onslaught of Bengal attackers could reach it. 
• Maya Campbell (Albany, N.Y./Albany) had an excellent chance to double the lead for Buffalo State when she got behind the defense in the 81^st minute but was denied by an excellent save from the goalkeeper.
• The Bengals held firm against an all-out attack in the final 10 minutes from the Wildcats. Defender Bryanna Roos (Walworth, N.Y./Ruben A. Cirrilo) shielded an attacker to earn a Bengal goal kick, Alexis Hults (Schenevus, N.Y./Schenevus) blocked a shot in the 88^th minute, and Vene made a save on a deflected shot in the last minute to thwart one final Cazenovia chance. 

 
FOR THE FOES

• Dimetria McIntyre led Cazenovia with three shots on goal.
• Meghan McCarthy made four saves for the Wildcats.  

 
UP NEXT
The Bengals host the Buffalo State Bengals Classic at Coyer Field this weekend, starting with a game against Penn State Behrend of Saturday at 12 p.m. Buffalo State will also play Medaille on Sunday at 2 p.m. to conclude the tournament.