TOLEDO, OH ? Toledo withstood Buffalo's second-half comeback attempt and claimed a 2-1 victory in Friday's Mid-American Conference contest at rainy Scott Park. With today's win, the Rockets run their winning streak to a season-best six straight and improved to 12-4-0 overall and 7-2-0 in the league. More importantly, the Midnight Blue and Gold moved into sole possession of first place in the conference with the win, coupled by a Central Michigan loss.
"A win is a win, and I'll take it any way I can get it," Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. "Style points really don't matter at this point in the season, but getting those three big points does."
Toledo dominated the action early and outshot the Bulls in the opening half, 13-0. The home team wasted little time getting its offense in high gear and had the match's first quality scoring opportunity on a shot by junior Ali Leak at 7:48. The forward received a cross from classmate Molly Cornwell and quickly flicked a shot from about six-yards out, but the ball went just over the bar and out of bounds.
Less than three minutes later, Leak had another scoring chance on a breakaway down the right side. The Pickerington, OH native had a step on the UB defense, but her shot again went just wide of the mark.
UT continued to apply pressure as the first half wore on and it finally paid off when freshman Jaimie Morsillo scored her first collegiate goal at 15:51. The Moon Township, PA native slid inside the UB defense off a corner kick from Cornwell and blasted a low shot that eluded the Bulls' goalkeeper Amy Coron and ended up in the back of the net.
Toledo was still hungry for more in the first 45 minutes and almost doubled its lead on a nice shot off the foot of junior Heather Wesley at 21:43. Unfortunately for the two-time defending MAC tourney champs, Wesley's attempt hit the post and bounced out of bounds, making the score 1-0 at the intermission.
To start the second half, UT looked like it had the match under control. Reigning MAC Player of the Year Cornwell registered her team-best fifth goal from about 25-yards out to make the score 2-0 at 64:58. The goal was setup on a quick restart from sophomore Erin Flynn. She reset the ball after a UB foul and played it forward to Cornwell. The Pickerington, OH native then gathered herself in traffic and launched a high shot that got over Coron's head and into the net for the tally.
With the rain still coming down heavy and the Rockets holding all the momentum, it could have been easy for Buffalo to roll over and play dead. The Bulls, though, did the exact opposite and gave UT all it could handle over the final 25 minutes.
The visitors quickly retaliated after Cornwell's goal and again made it a one-score match on a tally by the speedy Lindsey Bailey at 65:35. She perfectly placed a high shot just off the fingers of UT freshman netminder Vicki Traven that bounced off the cross bar and trickled into the net. The goal was the first allowed by the Rockets in the last 375:30 of competition.
UB was hungry for more and came within inches of knotting the score at 2-2 on another shot by Bailey. She was able to maneuver herself past a couple of UT defenders and had a breakaway with Traven. The Toledo goalkeeper took the right angle to minimize Bailey's shot range and forced her attempt to go high and the ball hit the post, caroming out of danger.
Buffalo fought to the bitter end and held a 7-3 edge in shots for the final 45 minutes, but the Rockets' defense stuck together and did not yield the equalizer.
"Buffalo applied quite a bit of pressure on us in the second half, but we kept our composure and we're able to make enough stops defensively," Traven said. "This was a solid overall win for us."
Cornwell led the UT offense with a match-high five shots, while Leak had three. Bailey and Andrea Vescio had two shots each to pace UB.
The first-place Rockets return to action on Sunday, Oct. 26 when they host Kent State in their final regular season home match. UT will honor its five seniors prior to start of the contest. The opening whistle is slated for 1:00 p.m.
TOLEDO 2, Buffalo 1
UT: J. Morsillo (M. Cornwell), 15:51
UT: M. Cornwell (E. Flynn), 64:58
UB: L. Bailey (B. McCalla), 65:35
SHOTS: UT 16, UB 7
CORNER KICKS: UT 7, UB 0
SAVES: UT 0, UB 2
FOULS: UT 8, UB 4
