From University of Rochester Athletics
Rochester's defense did well against high pressure from Buffalo State College, particularly in the last 30 minutes, to post a 1-0 victory over BSC on Tuesday evening.
The win boosted Rochester's record to 4-0. The Yellowjackets broke into the Division III national poll heading into the game. UR is ranked #14 nationally. For Buffalo State, the loss snapped a four-match unbeaten streak. BSC is 3-2-1. The Bengals lost their opener to RIT, 1-0, then posted shutout wins over Nazareth (3-0) and Medaille (4-1). They won the Fredonia Classic over the weekend, downing Baldwin-Wallace and tying Houghton College.
Jeff Greblick scored the Rochester goal in the 54th minute. Rochester earned a throw-in along the right sideline, 30 yards off the endline. Bryce Ikeda threw it long to the back post. The ball went through a tangle of bodies just to the right of the arc. That drew the attention of BSC goalkeeper William Banahene. It continued through to Greblick who left-footed the ball into the upper right portion of the goal before Banahene could get back in position.
Banahene finished with seven saves on 11 Rochester shots. UR goalkeeper Patrick Conway did not have any saves. BSC took five shots. The Bengals hit the crossbar in the final minute.
Buffalo State's Tristan Myers was in the middle of most of the Bengal attacks in the first half. The visitors played a number of long balls downfield looking for him and his running mates. In the 13th minute, he fired from 10 yards outside the box after running from left to right. The shot was wide left. With less than 10 minutes left in the half, he broke down the left side, got pace on a defender, and floated a ball just outside the crease, but no one was there.
The Ikeda to Greblick combination almost clicked again, seven minutes after the goal. This time, Greblick's lunging header was saved by Banahene.
Junior Geeba and Daniel Aguilar Lobo had chances to score for the guests in the second half. Geeba headed a free kick wide of the post midway through the period. With less than 16 minutes left, Lobo's long shot from the right sideline drifted over the bar.
The Yellowjacket backs were strong at cutting away crosses and breaking up plays before they could build into something dangerous. Ben Swanger, Lucas Loecher, Zachary Kanaley and Lasha Alkhazishvili played the biggest minutes in the back. Conway did well, coming off the line when necessary and generally marshalling his forces.
When the clock got under eight minutes, Myers stole the ball 30 yards from goal, dribbled within range and chipped the ball into the area with teammates rushing forward. The UR backs headed it away.
As the clock ticked down, everyone came forward for the visitors, including Banahene who ran 60 yards to get into the offensive third. A chip from the right side landed in a sea of bodies outside the right post. Sarr tried to drive it in, but his shot hit the crossbar with 40 seconds to play.