The Buffalo State women’s soccer team took to Coyer Field Saturday against D’Youville and opened their home schedule with a 0-0 draw.

The Bengals dominated possession for the better part of the game. They also outshot D’Youville by a 24-9 margin but ultimately couldn’t find the back of the net.

The Bengals had their chances to score but couldn’t finish. In the 25th minute, freshman mid-fielder Breanna Knight lined up for a free kick and ripped it just over the net, then at about the 5th minute in the second half freshman midfielder Victoria Colotti rang one off of the post.

D’Youville had a chance of their own to take the lead in the 65th minute when Terra Juda blew past the defender and goalie only to miss the wide open net.

The Bengals then dominated possession throughout both overtimes as well. They had a flurry of shots in the final minutes of the second overtime that led to a few more chances but no goals.

Although no goals were scored, junior captain Gabrianna Boldinski was pleased that the team stuck to their game plan.

“Our game plan was to try to dominate all over the field,” Boldinski said. “From winning in the air, to shooting, we want to get at least 10 shots a game, maybe 20. We want to work on our passes and our through balls and just dominate and don’t let up.”

Head coach Nick DeMarsh agreed that they executed the game plan, but he also saw a few things that he feels the team can improve on.

“I think we have to work on taking better care of the ball in the middle third,” DeMarsh said. “Our finishing could be better as well, we nearly tripled them in shots and we didn’t score. We didn’t finish a few breakaways, hit the bar a few times, hit the post. We need to make chances and bury chances.”

Freshman midfielder Victoria Colotti, who led the team in shots, echoed her coach’s sentiment.

“We need to keep possession more and attack more,” Colotti said. “We just need to get a lot more shots.”

The Bengals are a very young team as 14 of the 23 on the roster are freshmen and DeMarsh thought that was a factor in the game as well.

“The occasion of our first home game and the expectation to win was a little too much today,” DeMarsh said. “So there’s a maturing process that has to go on here, but they’ll be fine, they’re very good.”

Although they didn’t come away with the win, senior captain Liz Malinowski remained optimistic.

“I liked that we were able to pick it up instead of getting let down,” Malinowski said. “We could’ve been really disappointed at half that we weren’t winning and shut down, but we kept fighting, it was just unlucky.”

The Bengals will look to get back into the win column Wednesday, Sept. 10 when they take on Case Western at Coyer Field, before traveling to Bradford, Pennsylvania on Sept. 13, where they will take on Pitt-Bradford.

Reyes can be contacted at [email protected]