Buffalo Men's Soccer earns 1-1 road draw at Northern Illinois

Russell Cicerone's goal streak ended at six games, but the junior assisted on Daniel Cramarossa's 53rd-minute equalizer this evening as UB Men's Soccer earned a road result from Northern Illinois with a 1-1 draw.

Four different Bulls received yellow cards in the draw, which generally favored the Huskies, though Buffalo had several high-quality chances. Early in the second half a UB goal was called off, and the Bulls had at least two other headers nearly connect despite only putting three shots on goal. I do not believe

Northern Illinois' marker came early, at 16' on what the UB team Twitter account called a "defensive miscue." UB was able to get one back from Cramarossa despite being outshot 14-11 on the game and 8-2 in the second half. Joe Kuta, making his fifth straight start in net, made five saves in the draw. Cramarossa's goal was his second of the season.

None of Buffalo's yellow cards were the fifth for anyone, though Scott Doney did draw his fourth, and will have to sit out a subsequent game if he earns one more. Braden Culver and Nick Forrester each earned their sixth, but are safe when it comes to further suspension until they hit eight total. David Enstrom earned his first.

There's not too much more to say on this one without further stats, but the draw is a good one for the Bulls, who now face one home and one road match to close the MAC season. Scores from around the conference were mildly detrimental to the Bulls, so the road result is very good. Western Michigan managed a 1-1 draw on Akron, while Bowling Green beat West Virginia 2-0. As a result, Buffalo, Northern Illinois, and WMU are all tied for the three post-Akron spots in the MAC Tournament at 1-1-1, but West Virginia and Bowling Green are only one point behind.

We'll look more at that and the weekend upcoming in a few days. For now, UB has another week off before they host Bowling Green next Friday for Senior Night.