CANYON, Texas – Senior Christian Suthers pounced on a rebound in the first period of overtime to give the Buffs a 1-0 victory over Newman at The Pitch on Saturday afternoon. WT moved their unbeaten streak to seven matches in a contest where 44 fouls were committed and eleven cards were shown. With the win, the Buffs improve to 9-2-1 and 6-1-1 in Heartland Conference play while the Jets fell to 7-3-2 (4-2-2).
"I am really happy with the effort of the guys and their energy level," said WT head men's soccer coach Butch Lauffer. "I am really pleased that we were able to break through and score a goal today. It was a tough match and I just told them before the first overtime that the sooner they score the sooner we can go home."
The Buffs nearly went ahead in the 16th minute but sophomore Michael Garcia's shot hit the cross bar and the resulting shot from Evan Bozman was saved by NU's Blake Andrews. Bozman recorded his second shot of the season at 24:40 but Andrews was up for the task again.
The Jets went down to 10 men right before halftime when Vince Couto picked up his second yellow card of the match.
WT finished the first half with seven shots as they held the Jets to zero. The Buffs also took four corners during the first 45 minutes.
Junior Jake Wiffen came within inches of putting the Buffs up 1-0 at 68:53 off a free kick but was denied by the cross bar. The Essex, England native fooled the keeper putting the ball in the upper corner instead of sending the ball in the mixer. The Buffs had another chance just ten minutes later but Fraser Barlow was unable to put his header on target.
The Buffs finally found pay dirt at 99:35 after Reece Schattle found some space after a through ball down the left side. The sophomore midfielder crossed the ball back to Ulloa whose shots bounced off the cross bar back into the box. Suthers was at the right place at the right time and rocketed the ball past Andrews and two Jet defenders for the game-winner.
The Buffs finished the match with 21 shots compared to the Jets four while taking all eight corners in the match.
Junior Patrick Satorie made two saves picking up his third consecutive shutout and career-high seventh on the season.
Notes:
· The Buffs now lead the all-time series 4-0-0.
· Patrick Satorie's seven shutouts this season is the fourth-most in school history.
· The Buffs won an overtime match for the first time since Oct. 21, 2012 against Midwestern State.
· Suthers and Wiffen tied for the team-high in shots with three.
· The Buffs haven't allowed a goal in 348 minutes and 42 seconds.
