The Buffalo State Bengals women’s soccer season is in full swing. At the Farmingdale State Classic, Buffalo State went 1-0-1, followed by an away game at the University of Rochester in which Buffalo State came out with a 1-0 win.

Rochester had the upper hand on Buffalo State in the shot category, 5-2, in the first half, but neither team scored.

In the 56th minute, senior forward Melissa Smith scored her second goal of the season after pulling away from a defender on the left side. She made the most of the only shot on goal for the Bengals the entire game. Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Carillo had three saves for her first career shutout. The Bengals defeated the Yellowjackets, 1-0.

The Bengals then played Franklin College at the Misericordia Tournament in Dallas, Pennsylvania. Franklin’s Clare Lenart netted her first of the season 24 minutes into the game, putting the Bengals in an early predicament. But in the 59th minute, senior forward Catherine Mammoser tied it up with her second goal of the season and in the 72nd minute, senior midfielder Jenna Smolinski netted her first of the season and put the Bengals on top after a pass from junior midfielder Breanna Knight and the lead was not relinquished.

The Bengals defeated the Grizzlies, 2-1. Buffalo State outshot Franklin 21-9, 11 to seven on shots on goal.

“Our opponent changed,” said DeMarsh bluntly about the change in shots.

The Bengals would suffer their first loss of the season the following game. Buffalo State only allowed five shots on goal, but they turned into three goals for the hosts of the tournament,

Misericordia University, who was ranked fourth in the Division III Mid-Atlantic region at the end of last season.

The first goal was netted by Alex Gallagher in the 26th minute, followed by Jeanna Orfanos in the 40th minute and Hannah Larkin put the icing on the cake, sealing a 3-0 Cougars’ victory in the 80th minute.

“When you play one of the best teams in the nation like Misericordia, mistakes will be made. We have to look at where mistakes were made and cut down on unforced errors,” said DeMarsh.

“They were a really good team” said Smith. “Everyone on our non-league schedule is a tough opponent to get us ready for the SUNYACs. We played hard. A few mistakes turned into goals.”

The senior went on to say, “We have a lot of returners, but we also have a lot of new players that we’re not used to yet. We just have to work on the team’s chemistry and how each player plays. It’ll come with time.”

One stat does stick out that people usually don’t see: bookings. Buffalo State has five bookings thus far this season, four yellow, one red, but no bookings at all in the past 3 games.

The next time Buffalo State (3-1-1) takes the pitch will be Saturday, Sept. 17 in Schenectady, NY against the Union Dutchwomen (1-3-0).

“We just played 5 games in 8 days. A couple of days of recovery and film would be good for us,” said Smith.

“No (the six days in between games) doesn’t worry me. It’s welcomed. Usually, we get three practices before a game. We had three practices for five games,” added DeMarsh.

The Bengals play their first home game of the season against D’Youville on Monday, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m. at Coyer Field.

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