Announcement: Ben Tsujimoto is going to write about FC Buffalo this season. It will be posted here. This is his recap of their season-opener against rival Erie. You should go see FC Buffalo this summer. Ben and I would love to chat with you there.

Russell Cicerone’s first touch of the game was poor, spurring a counterattack for the Erie Admirals. Given the physical play of Erie’s two center backs, a long evening loomed for FC Buffalo’s wiry attacking centerpiece.

Two qualities to bear in mind about the University at Buffalo captain, though: he’s relentless, and he’s a deadly finisher.

After an uneven start to the match for both clubs, Cicerone deposited two goals—one on a masterful volley from outside the 18-yard box—in rapid succession, propelling the Wolves to a 3-1 halftime lead, one they would not relinquish.

Both sides scored once in the second half for a 4-2 final at Junker Field on the campus of Penn State Behrend.

“My first touch of the game was a turnover, but after that, I got my feet under me,” Cicerone explained. “But coming in and seeing the size of these [Erie] boys—they were pretty big and fast. Once we got our possession down, we were able to combine passes.”

Only 10 minutes elapsed before Cicerone sparked the match’s first goal. Whizzing through the heart of the midfield in Yaya Toure-like fashion, the UB soon-to-be sophomore was hacked down from the side, drawing a free-kick opportunity just outside the Erie box.

FCB returnee Ian Mort hit a dipping dead-ball shot that caromed off the hands of Admirals’ keeper Danny Mudd, and the Blitzers’ Marcus Hanson was well-positioned to slot home the rebound from in close.

Just four minutes later, however, Erie responded from the spot. A cheeky pass behind the Buffalo defense led to a desperation slide tackle by Bobby Ross, cleaning out Erie’s Mike Bamber without getting the ball cleanly.

Tyler Collishaw, making his Erie debut after last playing in England’s sixth division with Solihull Moors FC, coolly snapped the penalty kick past Blitzer goalie Waleed Cassis to knot the score.

As the half wore down, Cicerone began to dominate, wisely using his speed to exploit gaps in the Erie midfield while relying on one-twos and quick layoffs from his teammates. In the 37th minute, a long ball forward was neatly corralled by FC Buffalo target striker Martin Fiemawhle, who, with his back to goal, spun to his left and lobbed a ball into space for the onrushing Cicerone.

Because both Erie defenders had converged on Fiemawhle, Cicerone was left one-on-one with Mudd—a low, side-foot shot inside the left post was all the starlet needed.

“[Fiemawhle] goes up and wins a ball over two huge center backs like that and plays me an unbelievable through-ball,” Cicerone recounted. “I couldn’t ask for anything better, all I had to do was tap it in.”

Just two minutes later, the Blitzers took an emphatic lead from Cicerone’s booming strike. A long throw-in from Brian Knapp found Mort’s head just inside Erie’s defensive box. The Geneseo grad knocked the ball softly back to the half-circle of the 18, where Cicerone stepped first time and cracked a swerving volley past a helpless Mudd.

“We worked on our long throw-ins, and my job is to stay at the top of the box and clean up anything that comes near me, and I caught it on a perfect bounce and put it in the corner,” Cicerone noted.

Both of the goalscorer’s celebrations drifted over to the 25+ FC Buffalo supporters—the vocal, drum-banging Situation Room—who made the 90-minute jaunt down the 90 West.

“The crowd was great—that was one of the things I wasn’t expecting, how good they were going to be,” Cicerone remarked. “You could definitely feel the rivalry in the air, people were shouting your name and trying to get under your skin, but when we play our game, not many teams are going to be able to touch us.”

The vaunted newcomer’s productive debut—temporarily vindicating our choice to send the hype machine into overdrive—wasn’t lost on FC Buffalo head coach Brendan Murphy.

“Russ is unbelievable—the ability to score goals in ridiculous situations, create something out of nothing, set his teammates up, he works defensively—you can’t ask for much more out of a player.”

Two substitutes tallied goals in the second half, as FC Buffalo substitute Daniel Hunt latched on to a bending cross from Hanson, receiving the ball cleanly in traffic and powering his second touch past Mudd in the 78th minute.

A miscommunication defensively between Bobby Ross and Cassis led to an empty-net finish for Erie’s Teddy Martin who, after entering the fray after Collishaw suffered a right-leg injury, was the home side’s most energetic attacker.

The gaffe was only a blip for the Blitzers, as the visitors calmed down and closed out the 4-2 affair. Two consecutive yellow cards to Erie’s Mick Lennox—both for dangerous tackles—ended his evening just four minutes before the final whistle.

Kyle Moraldo (Niagara), Ross (Brockport), Liam Callahan and Tyler Allen (Point Loma Nazarene) rounded out a decent back-four effort, especially considering the lack of preparation time that characterizes the NPSL season.

“We kept the communication up, and that was the most important part of the game,” said Callahan, a Sweet Home graduate who recently played at Villanova. “Touche to the whole back line because we just did a great job.”

The team’s help defense on Erie’s 6’3 forward Karl Jones—who scored to beat FC Buffalo at Cathedral Prep last year with the Admirals down a man—was superb, as most long balls to Jones were challenged aggressively by either Ross or Callahan, with the other watchful for the second ball.

“[The back four’s chemistry] just clicked. It’s one of those things that just clicked.”

Cassis, whose development this summer will be crucial to the UB Bulls’ 2014 season, stormed out of net on several occasions to punch the ball away from Jones’ head.

“I thought [Waleed] did a really good job coming off his line, and he was very strong in the air. That was something I was curious about with Waleed, but he put my doubts at ease,” Murphy said. “He was aggressive, [had] great timing and great decision making, and when he did come out, he was strong.”

Though Murphy admitted that there were areas of the Blitzer’s performance that needed cleaning, he was floored by the offensive explosion in the first half.

Asked if he saw the three first-half goals on the horizon, the reply was a plain “no.”

“I thought we had a lot of offensive weapons and I thought we had the ability to really move the ball and keep it well, but you never really know until you get out here,” Murphy said. “Erie’s just such a good team with such a good history, and it was a battle—even with the scoreline, it was a battle—but we played well, and I was very happy with that.”

FC Buffalo’s home opener kicks off at 2 p.m. Sunday at Demske Sports Complex on the campus of Canisius College. Tickets are $5 apiece, and there will be concessions.

FC Buffalo XI: Cassis; Moraldo, Ross, Callahan, Allen; Hanson, Tagaloa, Mort, Knapp; Cicerone; Fiemawhle (Subs used: Hunt, Thomas, Rogers, Doppenberg)

Erie XI: Mudd; Sullivan, Suggs, Oki, Roach; Landell, Ott, Verdult, Collishaw; Bamber, Jones (Subs used: Lennox, Martin)