Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Fall on Penalty Kicks
11/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. - It came down to the final second, and then it came down to penalty kicks.
One went Central Michigan's way, the other did not.
Buffalo made three PKs to Central Michigan's one Sunday as the Bulls ended CMU's soccer season in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal at UB Stadium.
Central Michigan finished 6-10-3. Buffalo, 11-6-3, advances to the tournament semifinals Friday at Western Michigan.
CMU freshman Alexis Pelafas scored an oh-so dramatic goal with just 1 second remaining in regulation to tie it, 2-2, and send it to overtime. After two 10-minute OT periods, the game went to best-of-five penalty kicks.
"I told the players that they competed with a good championship spirit today," CMU coach Peter McGahey said. "You can't allow the result to devalue the effort, the performance, and the value of the fight that we put out.
"The competitive character that they showed was real and tangible. The lessons from today will become even more clear as we have time for reflection: The character and the life they showed until the end today, the perseverance, and the persistentance.
"We asked them to play aggressively and take the game to Buffalo. We went out and really played with a good attacking spirit We were able to keep the game on the front foot, and that bodes well for the future."
Carissima Cutrona scored less than two minutes into the match to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead. Madison Pogarch answered in the 19th minute to tie it.
Buffalo went up 2-1 on a Brianna Shingary goal in the 56th minute, and the Bulls appeared a lock to advance as the time ticked away on the Chippewas' season.
But with just seconds remaining, Buffalo failed to control the ball in front of its own net under pressure from the Chippewas, and the opportunistic Pelafas pounced, beating Buffalo keeper Laura Dougall to the right corner with just 1 second left on the clock.
"To concede the goal at the beginning of the game was difficult," McGahey said. "I'm really proud of them. They stuck to the game plan and kept grinding away, grinding away, grinding away. You need every second in the game to play out and we certainly capitalized on that at the end of regulation."
Freshman Zoie Reed made four saves in goal for the Chippewas, and she finished the season 6-8-2. Buffalo held a 19-12 edge in shots and 9-0 advantage in corner kicks.
McGahey elected to insert senior Maddy Bunnell at keeper for the shootout.
"A shootout really plays to her strengths," McGahey said. "We were playing to her strengths and playing the percentages. Sometimes that works and sometimes that doesn't.
"We felt Maddy's strengths and experience really gave us a leg up. We'll take our chances with those things. We really had confidence that Maddy was going to step up and get us one. She did an excellent job of coming in and she put out a really good performance. Unfortunately you're going to struggle if you don't make any penalties."
Bunnell and mid Kaelyn Korte are the lone two seniors on the Chippewa roster.
"The heartbreaking thing is the college careers end for two outstanding student-athletes," McGahey said. "I was proud of their performance throughout the season and I was proud of the team today, that they played with a competitive spirit to extend their season for their teammates, who they really care about. That was really special."
