The Buffalo State men’s soccer team had a number of chances Saturday, but failed to capitalize on their opportunities in a 1-1 tie against Fredonia.

The first half was full of shots with the Bengals getting off 13, but only landing four on net. Fredonia had seven shots and two on net. Fredonia (7-1-2 overall, 1-0-2 SUNYAC) scored the first goal of the match in the 18^th minute by freshman Aaron Hayes, assisted by Vinny Chimento.

Fredonia’s advantage came because of the nine corners they were given, opposed to the Bengals’ three.

The second half was very similar to the first, with both teams posting six shots. Bengal defenseman Matt Wong put Buffalo State on the scoreboard with his first goal of the season in the 77^th minute off of a cross from sophomore forward Joe Vucic, tying the game at one.

“It was nice because of the timing of the goal,” Wong said about his first goal of the season. “And the fact it got us back into the game.”

Both goalkeepers stood strong and forced overtime.

In overtime, the game was stagnant until Fredonia had a good opportunity to take the lead when Hayes headed a ball towards the net, however, Buffalo State keeper Hunter Hein made the save in the final 20 seconds to force a second overtime.

The second overtime was strong defensively with only one shot coming from each team. Buffalo State dominated the final six minutes, but failed to put one past the goaltender, ending the game in a tie.

“We had four or five (clear-cut) chances to win the game,” coach Mark Howlett said. “Just need a little more focus in the final moment. [We] improved defensively; they had set opportunities today and we were solid.”

After the second overtime, there was a shootout which only counts as a tiebreaker, if needed, at the end of the season. The shootout was one-sided with Fredonia scoring on their 3 attempts, while Buffalo State failed to get one.

“I think we could have taken better care of the ball at times,” senior forward Jake Reed said. “What’s improved for us is our level of competitiveness and our will to fight for a win. We’ve built all week on our fear of losing and our will to win, I think that will carry over and build more as the season goes on.”

“It was a game we dominated and even though it was important we didn’t lose the game, after the way we played we should have got the three points,” Wong said.

Buffalo State (2-7-1, overall 0-2-1 SUNYAC) will try get back in the win column Friday at Cortland (8-2-1, overall 3-0-1 SUNYAC) at 4 p.m. in SUNYAC contest and another SUNYAC game Saturday at Oswego (2-7-2 overall, 1-2-1 SUNYAC) at 1 p.m.

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