FC Buffalo found positive results in very different places on Wednesday, as the men blanked Erie Sports Center FC 4-0 and the women rallied for a last-gasp 2-2 draw with rivals Flower City 1872 at Coyer Field in Buffalo.
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Lovro Kostanjsek scored twice and added two assists and Lucas Soares scored twice with one assist in the first game of the day, as the coach Carl Kennedy’s Blitzers ran a three-goal first half to a blowout win and a 2W-1D record on the young season.
Local back Chase Dade made his first start and goalkeeper Jack Root piled up his fifth career clean sheet, as Constantine Santacrose made his FCB debut off the bench in the win.
The second game of the doubleheader started sour, as Flower City dialed up two goals in the first 18 minutes off a pair of disjointed plays in FCB’s third.
But coach Mike Idland took some wild swings at the break, replacing both of his center backs and moving forward Paige Szymanski to right back.
The moves worked a treat, as halftime subs Ekemini Udofa and Lindsay Lenhard helped change the game.
Lenhard settled a loose ball that Udofa finished to make it 2-1 in the 75th minute. Udofa then wound her way into the 18 and was hauled down in stoppage time, with Lenhard slamming home her penalty with the very last kick of the game.
SCHEDULE: Men’s and women’s schedules
Next home games: The women face Cleveland Force at home on Saturday, June 13 at 2pm. The men are home a week later in a doubleheader with the women.
Next games: The men have three more away days, all in Pennsylvania — June 3 at Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2, June 6 at Steel City, and June 10 at Erie Sports Center FC. The women also have three away days — June 3 at Flower City 1872, June 6 at Steel City in a doubleheader with the men, and June 10 at Erie also a doubleheader with the men.
