It’s no secret that the Buffalo State women’s soccer team is red-hot right now. A big credit for their streak is owned to freshman goalkeeper Taylor Carillo, senior forward Melissa Smith and junior forward Tianna Hatch, who has taken strides in recent games.

The trio helped Buffalo State keep its shutout streak going, as they completed the weekend winning both games. The strong performance boosted the Bengals to a program-best No. 23 in the nation among D-III women’s soccer teams.

In the pair of shutouts, freshman goaltender Taylor Carillo extended her shutout streak of (currently at 709 minutes, 55 seconds) and broke a school record.

The Bengals began the second half of their four-game home stretch on Friday against the Oswego Lakers in SUNYAC play.

Oswego came out playing aggressively at a high tempo. The style of play was slated against the Bengals’ strengths, but the Bengals dominated the first half anyway. In the 18th minute, junior midfielder Breanna Knight crossed the ball to an unmarked Smith, who shot it off the volley. Her strike was off — it hit the crossbar and went up out of play.

At the half, Buffalo State led in every statistical category, including outshooting the Lakers 6-0, but the scoreboard read 0 for both teams.

“A negative: We still aren’t scoring goals in the first half, which we tried real hard. It’s not like we’re not making chances,” said Bengals head coach Nick DeMarsh with a chuckle.

Buffalo State had an opportunity early in the second half as a handball was called right outside the box. Knight took charge, but the ball sailed wide left.

In the 58th minute, Smith fell in the box and a foul was called. Smith then took charge, but goalkeeper Melissa Siegfried blocked it. Not long after, Hatch put the ball in the back of the net after a physical scramble to give the Bengals the 1-0 lead.

Oswego coach Brian McGrange was very upset with the no-call, and was vocal about it. In the 88th minute, the Bengals were awarded another penalty kick, and again Hatch found the back of the net.

During the game, Carillo set the program record for most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal, passing Katie Melcert’s record.

“I’m pretty proud,” Carillo said. “I’m excited, but I couldn’t have done it without my team. A lot of (the credit) goes to (the back line). Last game, they had to save one off the line for me, so a lot of it goes to them.”

The Bengals defeated the Lakers, 2-0.

“I think we dominated the ball and felt we were pretty versatile,” DeMarsh said. “It wasn’t all just bombing balls in from the width; we had a lot of vertical passes and good buildups.”

Junior Paige Bly, a key role player, limped off the field under her own power in the 69th minute with a knee injury, according to DeMarsh.

The following day, the Bengals hosted the Cortland Red Dragons to close out their four-game home stretch.

This was Buffalo State’s biggest test thus far in SUNYAC play. Throughout the first half, the teams traded blows. It began early on when senior forward Catherine Mammoser shot the ball too high, and a few moments later, Stephanie Sheridan shot one over Carillo’s net.

By the half, the statistics were very similar as Buffalo State got off six shots, one on goal and Cortland got five shots off, two on goal.The Red Dragons had the slight advantage on the corner kick statistic (3-2).

From there on, the Bengals dominated, as they did not let the Red Dragons get off another shot the entire game. Buffalo State took a while, but they finally put one in the back of the net in the 80th minute.

Smith was able to control the ball, turn around and shoot a rocket in which the Red Dragons goalkeeper was able to get a fingertip on, but it wasn’t enough. That was the only tally of the game.

Next up for the Buffalo State Bengals (10-1-2) are back-to-back away games against the Plattsburgh Cardinals (9-5-0) on Friday, Oct. 14 and the Potsdam Bears (8-4-1) on Saturday, Oct. 15 before finishing off the regular season with three straight at home.

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