Men's Soccer | 10/28/2014 5:11:00 PM
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Updated statsROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Visiting Buffalo State scored twice within a three-minute stretch of the second half Tuesday to rally past Nazareth for a 2-1 non-conference victory in a men's soccer match at Golden Flyer Stadium.
Buffalo State improved to 6-10-2 overall with its fourth straight win. Nazareth dropped to 5-11 overall and had a two-game winning streak snapped. The Golden Flyers, at 3-3 in Empire 8 Conference play, still have a chance to make the E8 Tournament with a victory in Saturday's regular-season finale at Ithaca at 1 p.m. Utica also is in the mix and hosts Alfred Saturday at 4. If Nazareth loses, the Golden Flyers could still qualify if Alfred beats Utica.
On Tuesday, Buffalo State had advantages in shots (23-11) and corner kicks (7-4), but the game remained scoreless through the first 45 minutes. Nazareth keeper
Diego Abreu had six of his 11 saves in the first half, including two that he punched over the crossbar, to keep the game scoreless.
Nazareth finally broke through in the 48th minute when senior
James Wheeler scored his second goal of the season after an unsuccessful clearing attempt by the Bengals. Wheeler trapped the ball from about 25 yards out and lofted a shot over Bengals' goalie Ian Huntoon and into the set.
With rain beginning to fall, the Bengals scored the tying and game-winning goals less than three minutes apart. The first goal came in the 66th minute off the foot of Francis Garcia, who redirected a corner kick by Tristan Myers. Less than three minutes later, in the 69th minute, Sam Wasson scored the game-winner on a low shot from the top of the box following another corner kick. Nazareth tried to clear the ball out from in front of the goal mouth, but Wasson converted for his first goal of the season.
Nazareth had a good opportunity to tie the game in the 79th when a free kick by Wheeler was headed into the goal by
Ramez Al-Hebshi. The goal, however, was nullified by an offside violation.