SALINE — The Michigan men’s soccer team missed its spark plug.

After scoring a thrilling game-winning goal last weekend to defeat San Diego State in overtime, junior forward Mauro Fuzetti received a red card in the team’s double-overtime tie on Sept. 7.

The penalty forced him to sit out Michigan's next game — Friday's 4-1 loss to No. 16 Illinois-Chicago.

But yesterday was a different story.

Michigan (4-1-1) edged Buffalo, 2-1, thanks to another game-winner by Fuzetti, scored with just 6:16 left in the contest. Fuzetti pulled off his jersey and ran around in the torrential rain after his shot into the right side of the net.

“It’s always exciting after sitting out a game,” Fuzetti said. “I wanted to get back out there and help my team out.”

Fuzetti seemed rusty at the start of the game, leading Michigan coach Steve Burns to bench him for a while. Burns said he was waiting for Fuzetti to prove he deserved to be on the field after his red card — a wait that took almost 84 minutes.

With just over 12 minutes left in Sunday’s game, Buffalo connected on a free kick to tie the game. A deflated Michigan crowd, already soaked from the constant rain, braced for overtime.

“To be honest, I expected that we’d play better today coming off a real solid beating by UIC,” Burns said. “They did respond. A win is a win at this point. They had the legs of pianos and the hearts of lions to figure that one out.”

One thing that remained constant through the two games was the less-than-ideal weather.

On Friday, the Wolverines played through light rain at their temporary home in Ypsilanti and suffered their first loss of the season.

The bright red UIC jerseys stood out against the dark gray clouds hovering around the game. The Flames struck first, just over eight minutes into the game, with a goal off a deflected shot.

After a controversial penalty kick was awarded for a handball five minutes into the second half, UIC added another goal. Less than two minutes after that, the still-reeling Wolverines gave up a third marker.

“We tried to build that up for our team as a real statement game,” Burns said. “There’s disappointment, but it’s the lessons in the loss that they have to take — those are the big things.”

The Wolverines rebounded well against a tough Buffalo squad Sunday. They moved the ball quickly through the midfield and looked to create scoring opportunities early and often.

Senior forward Jake Stacy connected 14 minutes into the game to give Michigan an early lead — and some of the confidence it had lacked in the previous game.

“It was a great test of our mental toughness,” said redshirt sophomore defender Matt Schmitt, who tallied two assists Sunday. “We played with a lot of intensity. It wasn’t the best conditions, but we toughed it out...It shows we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”