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Sports Recap
Daniel Bell of the men's soccer team recorded his first two career shutouts and earned Defensive Most Valuable Player honors at the UB Fall Classic. Bell, a sophomore, stopped three shots against Colgate in a 3-0 win over the Raiders, giving the Bulls their first season-opening victory since 2000. Bell picked up his second shutout of the week with a four-save performance against Hartford and finished the weekend with a six-save effort in a 1-1 tie against 22nd-ranked Binghamton.
Nikki Morzenti of the women's volleyball team garnered All-Western New York Invitational honors with 39 kills and 25 digs in three matches. The sophomore recorded a double-double with 21 kills—one shy of her career high—and 10 digs, while adding three blocks in UB's four-game victory over Stony Brook to conclude the weekend tournament.
Football
Eastern Michigan 37, UB 34
Eastern Michigan held off UB, 37-34, in a see-saw, nail-biting season opener to the 2004 football season on Thursday night in Rynearson Stadium in a Mid-American Conference clash.
The lead changed hands four times in the game, but the Bulls couldn't hold a 34-30 fourth-quarter lead after battling back from a nine-point second half deficit.
Strong defensive play mixed with some opening-night jitters may have been a factor behind the two teams combining for six turnovers in the first quarter. The first turnover occurred on the very first play of the game as Ryan Sherwood-Ericsson forced Chris Roberson to fumble the opening kickoff and Jeff Bublavi pounced on the ball to give UB possession at the Eagles' 19 yard-line. However, on the ensuing drive, a Steven King fumble on fourth down was scooped up by EMU's Jerry Gaines who darted 82 yards for the touchdown.
With the score 7-0 in favor of the Eagles, it was time for the Bulls' defense to shine. On a third-down play, Eastern Michigan quarterback Matt Bohnet dropped back to pass and was sacked by Aaron Sanders, who managed to jar the ball loose. Phil Jacques scooped up the fumble and scampered 19 yards for the touchdown to knot the game at 7-7.
Following a Randall Secky interception, Eastern Michigan needed only three plays to take a 14-7 lead as Anthony Sherrell scored on a 7-yard run with 2:34 left in the first quarter.
The Bulls quickly responded by mounting a 10-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a King two-yard touchdown run. The key play that set up the score was a 17-yard, third-down completion from Secky to Chad Upshaw that took the Bulls to the Eastern Michigan 2-yard line.
Eastern Michigan jumped ahead, 17-14, on a 37-yard field goal by Andrew Wellock with 9:25 left in the first half.
UB took its first lead of the game on its very next possession after another lengthy drive resulted in a touchdown. With the Bulls on the Eastern Michigan 3-yard line, Secky rolled to his left, stopped and looked back to his right to find a wide-open Brian Miller in the right side of the end zone for the touchdown. It gave the Bulls a 21-17 advantage. However, Eastern Michigan answered right back, marching 65 yards on only four plays. Bohnet found Adam Jacobs in the end zone to regain the lead for the Eagles. Two plays prior to the score, Bohnet scrambled for 56 of his 92 yards for the game.
Eastern Michigan tacked on three more points in the closing seconds of the half as Wellock connected on a career-long 49-yard field goal. The Eagles held a 27-21 halftime advantage.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Bulls had a chance to cut the lead in half on a Michael Baker field goal. However, a fumbled snap enabled the Eagles to gain possession of the ball on their own 13-yard line. Sherrell broke off a 66-yard run to set up another Wellock field goal, extending the EMU lead to 30-21.
The Bulls cut the lead to 30-28 compliments of another long scoring drive. Jared Patterson powered his way across the goal line for a one-yard touchdown plunge, capping a 72-yard drive. The key play on the drive was a Secky-to-Matt-Knueven 16-yard completion on 3rd-and-13. Knueven resembled a high-wire artist as he made an acrobatic catch on the sideline to keep the drive alive. The senior wideout finished the game with a team-best four catches.
After the teams traded punts, the Bulls regained possession on the EMU 21-yard line when Rob Schroeder stripped the ball from Bohnet and it was quickly pounced on by Aaron Sanders. Five plays later, King scored on a three-yard touchdown run. Although the two-point conversion attempt failed, the Bulls regained a 34-30 advantage.
The see-saw affair continued on the Eagles' next possession as they marched 65 yards and scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Bohnet to Chris Talley to go ahead, 37-34.
The Bulls had two separate cracks to at least tie the game late in the contest. However, both drives stalled without the Bulls being able to score any points.
Despite the loss, the Bulls were effective in a number of areas. The UB running attack combined to rush for 225 yards on the night. Dave Dawson led the way with 102 yards on only 10 carries. It was Dawson's fifth 100-yard game of his career, moving him into fifth place by himself in Bulls' football history. Chris McDuffie rushed for a career-high 71 yards on 14 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulls attacked the ball well and forced four fumbles. Aaron Sanders had a career night with a career-best seven tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Rich Sanders and Bill Meholif also set career-highs in tackles with 11 and seven, respectively.
UB will host Syracuse on Saturday night in UB Stadium in the home opener.
Volleyball
Syracuse 3, UB 0
UB 3, Binghamton 0
Texas-Arlington 3, UB 0
UB 3, Stony Brook 1
UB got off to a rough start to the 2004 season with a 3-0 loss at Syracuse on Sept. 1. Game scores were 30-18, 30-20 and 30-25.
Freshman Tammy Julé led Buffalo with six kills, while sophomore Lauren Burd and junior setter Amy Brown added five kills apiece. Brown had 22 assists and six digs in the match, and junior Katie Weekley added four kills and two blocks. Sophomore Nikki Morzenti had three kills, six digs and two blocks, and freshman libero Lizaiha Garcia had seven digs.
Syracuse was led by Kristen Conway with 10 kills and six digs and Aila Dommestrup with 29 assists and five digs.
The Bulls earned their first win of the 2004 season in the opening match of the Western New York Tournament with a sweep over Binghamton in three games, 30-26, 30-25, 31-29, in a match played at Niagara University on Friday.
Weekley led the Bulls with 12 kills and four blocks, while Julé added 11 kills, three service aces and two blocks. Senior Molly Schrantz had nine kills and 11 digs, and Morzenti recorded nine kills, eight digs and three service aces. Brown finished the match with 37 assists, nine digs and three blocks.
UB concluded the tournament with one win and one loss in matches played Saturday at Canisius College.
In their first match of the day, the Bulls were swept in three games by an undefeated Texas-Arlington team. Game scores were 30-23, 30-15 and 30-22. Julé led UB with a match-high 14 kills on 30 attempts for a .300 hitting percentage. Weekley added 11 kills and two blocks, and Garcia recorded a team-high 11 digs. Morzenti had nine kills and seven digs, and Brown finished with 35 assists, six digs and three blocks.
Texas-Arlington was led by Ashley Van Antwerp with 12 kills, 12 digs and two blocks.
The Bulls rebounded for a 3-1 win in the nightcap against Stony Brook, 30-24, 28-30, 30-28, 30-25. Morzenti led the charge with 21 kills, just one shy of her career high, 10 digs and three blocks. Julé and Weekley added 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Buffalo had 12 team blocks in the match, including six apiece from Weekley and Burd and five from Julé. Garcia had a team-high 16 digs and Brown finished with 49 assists, six kills and six digs.
Stony Brook was led by Melissa Votruba with 16 kills and Morgan Sweany with 13 kills and 12 digs. Morzenti was the Bulls' selection to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.90 kills per game and 2.50 digs per game in Buffalo's three matches.
Soccer
Men's
UB 3, Colgate 0
UB 1, Hartford 0
UB 1, Binghamton 1 (2 OT)
Sophomore Braden Byler scored twice to lead UB to a convincing, 3-0 shutout win over visiting Colgate in the season opener for both teams on Sept. 1 at RAC Field.
Byler got the Bulls on the board just under 16 minutes into the game when he headed in a cross by senior Andrew Butler. The Bulls peppered Colgate goalie Doug Litvack with nine shots in the first half, but led just 1-0 at halftime.
Just over five minutes into the second stanza, senior Jeff Martinko converted the rebound of a header by sophomore Andrae Clark to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead, and Byler's second tally of the night gave added insurance at the 64:45 mark. Sophomore Brian Knapp collected assists on the final two goals of the game, and junior Matt Stuczynski also assisted on Byler's first score of the game in addition to Butler.
The Bulls outshot Colgate by a 14-8 margin in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Bell made three saves for his first career shutout. Litvack finished with five saves for the Raiders.
The win was UB's first season-opening victory since 2000. It also ended a seven-game scoring drought for the Bulls, who were shut out in the final seven games of the 2003 season. The Bulls scored just eight goals in 16 games last year. The shutout is the Bulls' first since a 3-0 blanking of Western Michigan on Oct. 13, 2002.
In Saturday night's opening round of the UB Fall Classic, freshman forward Shyle Braithwaite deposited a shot to the left of Hartford's goalkeeper from 15 yards out to clinch UB's 1-0 win.
Sophomore midfielder Mat Wilkinson headed the ball to Braithwaite with no one but the goalie in front of the goal. Braithwaite dribbled once, then launched a low liner to the right side corner of the goal with 4:34 left in the contest.
UB peppered Hartford with 20 shots, forcing Hartford goaltender Ryan Carr to make five saves, including two diving saves. In the fifth minute, freshman forward Lee Catchpole took a shot on the right side of the goal that Carr deflected to sophomore midfielder Erik Jaanimagi. Jaanimagi fired a shot to the lower right half of the goal, but Carr made a diving stop.
UB also came close to scoring in the 84th minute as Wilkinson took a shot from 15 yards that sailed just left of the goal.
Hartford managed only eight shots against a very stingy defense, led by senior defender Cheick Diarra, Butler and Stuczynski. Bell was forced to make four saves to earn his second shutout.
On Monday, Diarra scored from over 40 yards out early in the second half to tie the score at 1-1 in the final game of the classic at RAC Field. UB and Binghamton both recorded one win and one tie in the tournament, but Binghamton was declared tournament champion by virtue of having the better goal differential.
Binghamton (2-0-1) entered the game ranked 22nd in the nation in both the NSCAA/adidas and College Soccer News preseason polls. The Bearcats outshot the Bulls by a 4-2 margin in the first half and got on the board in the 29th minute when Bryan Arnault, the tournament's Offensive Most Valuable Player, found himself alone in front of the net and sailed a shot past UB's Bell. The goal was the first Bell and the Bulls allowed this season after starting the year with two straight shutouts.
Diarra tied the game at 1-1 on somewhat of a fluke goal with a long shot from 40 yards out that went in just under the crossbar. The Bulls had two great scoring chances in the second overtime period, but both shots went wide of the net and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
Binghamton outshot the Bulls by an 11-9 margin in the game and held a 12-4 advantage in corner kicks. Bell made six saves for UB, while Binghamton goalie Stefan Gonet was credited with two saves.
Bell, Diarra, Stuczynski, Butler and Braithwaite were UB's selections to the All-Tournament Team, and Bell was named Tournament Most Valuable Defensive Player.
The Bulls (2-0-1) will be in action on Sunday at Siena College.
Women's
Fairleigh Dickinson 3, UB 1
UC Irvine 2, UB 1 (OT)
Fairleigh Dickinson University scored two goals in two minutes in the second half to overtake UB, 3-1, in the opening round of the Arizona Invitational on Friday in Tucson.
With the game tied at one in the 53rd minute, Tonya Hipsman scored an unassisted goal and Julia Ralph followed with another unassisted tally 82 seconds later to give the Knights an insurance goal.
That was enough for Andrea Maston, who made nine saves in goal for the Knights, eight coming in the first half. UB did get its first goal of the season as senior midfielder Brenna McJury dished a corner kick to senior forward Jenny Dannecker, who scored to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute.
The Knights answered quickly, as Marguerite Ferrell scored on a feed from Chelsea Adams in the 36th minute. S
ophomore Jennifer Thompson started her first game of the year for the Bulls in goal. She made nine saves, including six in a first half in which Fairleigh Dickinson took 12 shots.
UB used a season-high 19 players in the Arizona heat, with the temperature rising near 90 degrees.
On Sunday, Britney Webster scored unassisted with 3:59 remaining in the first overtime to give the University of California at Irvine a 2-1 win over the Bulls in the final round of the Arizona Invitational.
For the Bulls (0-4 overall), it was their second overtime loss in seven days, as the young squad that features three first-year starters lost to regionally ranked Syracuse (11th in the Northeast on soccerbuzz.com) 1-0 on Aug. 29.
With the heat rising to more than 100 degrees, the Bulls couldn't hold on for the win, despite a valiant fight that included a 12-save performance from senior Anna-Lesa Calvert.
UC-Irvine (2-2 overall) opened the scoring in the 72nd minute, as Lauryn Birkenshaw took a dish from Tara Weldon and found the back of the net.
UB answered three and a half minutes later, as senior Jennifer Rounds responded with her first career goal. Senior Erin Tambs added an assist on the play, for her first points of the year.
In the first half, UB managed just two shots while UC-Irvine fired off nine, but a stellar performance from Calvert kept the game scoreless. She stopped seven shots in the match. The Anteaters got a solid performance out of goalkeeper Jackie Vazquez, who stopped six shots in the win. She faced nine Buffalo shots.
The Bulls will look to rebound from their 0-4 start beginning tomorrow with a match at RAC Field against local rival Canisius College at 7 p.m.