University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: September 16, 2004

Football

Syracuse 37, UB 17

Special teams mistakes erased what was otherwise a tremendous effort by UB in a 37-17 loss to Syracuse in front of an all-time Bulls' football record crowd of 29,013 in a sold-out UB Stadium.

The Bulls led the heavily favored Orange 10-3 when Anthony Smith blocked a pair of punts 1:39 apart that turned into immediate touchdowns and the Bulls never recovered. Syracuse also got a field goal on its first possession after a 57-yard kickoff return by Diamond Ferri. Those 17 points made the difference in a game in which Syracuse (1-1) outgained the Bulls by only 34 yards and spoiled an outstanding defensive effort by UB (0-2).

UB limited Syracuse to just a field goal on its opening possession after a crucial third down sack by Bill Meholif. The Bulls had another opportunity to score on Syracuse's next drive as true freshman James Evans stepped in front of a Joe Fields pass and returned it 41 yards to the SU 25. However, an offsides penalty wiped out a field goal and junior kicker Mike Baker missed a 38-yard field goal that would have tied it.

The Bulls, however, tied it early in the second quarter on a 36-yard field goal by Baker, the longest of his career. The key plays on the drive were a third-down completion from quarterback P.J. Piskorik to senior tight end Brian Miller and a 19-yard run by sophomore Steven King.

UB then electrified the crowd with the go-ahead touchdown. On a third-and-one play at the UB 42, senior Sagan Atuatasi hammered Greg Hanoian to force a fumble and senior safety J.J. Gibson returned it 57 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulls a 10-3 lead. Gibson paced a stellar defensive effort by the Bulls with 10 tackles.

However, Smith's back-to-back blocks totally changed the complexion of the game and the Bulls' never recovered as SU scored 34 unanswered points before the Bulls closed the scoring with yet another defensive touchdown. Redshirt freshman Ollice Ervin fell on a fumble by Xavier Gaines in the Syracuse end zone with 4:21 remaining.

The Bulls had several other stars on defense on this night. Junior Gemara Williams had nine tackles and a pass breakup, while sophomore Ramon Guzman had five tackles—two for losses—a sack and a blocked punt. Linebackers Bryan Cummings and Jeff Bublavi added seven tackles—one each for a loss—for the Bulls.

The Bulls offense, which ran for 225 yards in the opener at Eastern Michigan, was limited to 109 yards rushing and 122 yards passing. Piskorik finished 9-of-14 for 80 yards, while senior flanker Matt Knueven had three receptions for 28 yards.

The Bulls will travel further west then they ever have in their football history this weekend when they take on Western Athletic Conference foe Nevada on Saturday.

Volleyball

UB 3, Canisius 0
Boise State 3, UB 0
Montana State 3, UB 0
UB 3, Dartmouth 2
Portland 3, UB 0

Four players recorded double digits in kills to lead UB to a 3-0 sweep of visiting Canisius on Sept. 8 in Alumni Arena. Game scores were 30-22, 30-27 and 30-17. The match was the inaugural event in the newly renovated Alumni Arena, which underwent a makeover during the summer that included new chair-back seating on both sides of the court and renovated bleacher seats on the ends.

Senior Molly Schrantz led UB's attack with 12 kills and a match-high 14 digs. Sophomore Nikki Morzenti also posted a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, and freshman Tammy Julé and junior Katie Weekley each reached double figures in kills with 11 and 10, respectively. Weekley had a match-high five blocks, while sophomore Lauren Burd contributed three blocks and six kills. Junior setter Amy Brown had 44 assists, nine digs and four blocks.

UB went 1-3 in the Montana State Tournament over the weekend. The Bulls dropped three game matches to Boise State (30-22, 30-19, 30-16) and Montana State (30-23, 30-20, 30-17) on Friday. On Saturday, UB won a thriller over Dartmouth in five games (30-26, 23-30, 28-30, 30-27, 25-23), but dropped the finale to Portland in three games (30-18, 30-10, 30-23). The Bulls are now 4-5 overall.

Freshman libero Lizaiha Garcia was UB's selection to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.57 digs per game in the Bulls' four matches, including a team-high 17 in the win over Dartmouth.

In the victory over Dartmouth, five players posted double digits in kills for the Bulls, led by a career-high 25 by Morzenti. Weekley tied her career high with 15 kills, while also adding a match-high nine blocks. Morzenti (25 kills, 15 digs), Schrantz (16 kills, 11 digs), Julé (12 kills, 15 digs) and Brown (career-high 68 assists, 13 digs) all recorded double-doubles in the match. Burd also reached double digits in kills with 11 while adding four blocks.

The Bulls were to play at Niagara last night before participating in the James Madison Tournament next weekend.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 4, Siena 0

UB remained undefeated on the season by blanking Siena, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon in Loudonville. Daniel Bell made only one save to earn his third shutout of the season.

Jeff Martinko scored the Bulls' first goal at the 21:04 mark when he took a pass from Greg Galemore and shot it past Siena goalkeeper Patrick Henry. Shyle Braithwaite notched his second goal of the season 11 minutes later off a pass from fellow freshman Lee Catchpole to put the Bulls ahead, 2-0.

Galemore recorded his second assist of the game when he set up Erik Jaanimagi for the Bulls' third goal at the 55:12 mark. Braden Byler capped UB's scoring with his team-best third goal of the season in the 65th minute. Brian Knapp was credited with the assist.

With the win, the Bulls improved to 3-0-1 and are off to their best start since the 1999 season. With nine goals on the year, UB has already eclipsed the eight goals that it scored all of last season. The Bulls have been equally effective on defense, allowing only one goal through four games. Siena dropped to 0-3-0 with the loss.

WOMEN'S

UB 4, Canisius 0
UB 2, Akron 0

Arielle Korczykowski notched two goals and added an assist as UB shut out Canisius, 4-0, on Friday night at RAC Field.

Korczykowski, a senior, came off the bench in the 35th minute and notched the game's first goal with just more than a minute left in the first half. She took a shot from 35 yards out that was tipped by Canisius goalkeeper Jenna Gage, but the ball still found the top of the net. Junior Pamela Schneck assisted on the goal.

Korczykowski added the final goal after receiving a beautiful dish from senior Brenna McJury that left Korczykowski with no one but the goalie between her and a 4-0 lead.

The Bulls got on the board 16 seconds into the second half as Korczykowski offered a cross that was headed by sophomore Jessica Roesch to freshman Kathleen Fage. Fage deposited a shot past a sprawling keeper to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead.

The third UB goal came in the 53rd minute when junior Natalia Crofut cleared a pass to junior Erica Mincher. Mincher beat the goalie after the clear left no defender in front of her.

Senior Anna-Lesa Calvert stopped four shots in goal. The closest the Golden Griffins got to a goal came in the 76th minute wjem Calvert made a leaping save off a 40-yard shot from Lindsay Benson. Gage stopped seven shots for Canisius.

On Sunday, senior Jenny Dannecker scored the game-winning goal in the 16th minute and added an assist to help the Bulls to a 2-0 win over Akron at Lee R. Jackson Field. The Bulls (now 2-4 overall, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) improved to 6-1 in MAC season openers with the win. Their only season-opening loss since joining the MAC in 1998 came last season when they lost to Western Michigan, 2-1.

Dannecker scored UB's first goal after dribbling through the Akron defense for her second goal of the year. That was all the scoring in the first half, as Akron (2-4 overall, 0-2 MAC) limited UB to five shots in the half. The Bulls didn't allow an Akron shot.

Fage added her second goal in two games on a dish from Dannecker in the goal box two and a half minutes into the second half.

The Zips managed just four shots on the Bulls' defensive core, all in the second half. Calvert made just three saves in her second consecutive shutout for the Bulls. UB fired 12 shots at Akron goaltender Crystal Tabor, who made five saves.

The Bulls will host Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. tomorrow in their MAC home-opener.

Cross Country

UB women take Tommy Evans Invitational; Men finish third

UB's cross country teams got off to a flying start Saturday morning at Akron's 26th Annual Tommy Evans Invitational. The women won the team title, while the men placed third in a four-team field. With just four teams in the field in both races, the meet also counts in UB's dual meet standings.

The UB women scored 29 points to hold off second-place Akron with 37. Ashland (60) finished in third and Robert Morris (120) was fourth. The UB men scored 56 points to trail Akron (27) and Ashland (40) and finish ahead of Robert Morris (116).

UB senior Jenny Koeppel won the women's individual title, completing the five kilometer course in 18:21 to finish first. She had no trouble breaking away from the rest of the 40-runner field, finishing the race 25 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Akron's Brandi Schoeppner (18:46). Koeppel's finish was five seconds better than last year's time of 18:26, when she finished the race second overall.

Freshman Dan Giza was the Bulls' top men's finisher in 21:42 for the four-mile course to take seventh overall among 41 runners.

The Bulls will in action on Saturday at Toledo's Central Collegiate Meet.

Tennis

MEN'S

Bulls open season with strong showing at home

UB opened its season with three strong performances in the Buffalo/Bonaventure Fall Classic. The tournament was based on individual efforts and played in a "hidden duals" format, with as many as eight singles and four doubles matches and no team scoring.

On Saturday, UB opened by winning 10 of 12 matches against Niagara—four doubles victories and six singles wins. Highlighting the Bulls' efforts was Josh Liederman, who scored a "double-bagel" victory (6-0, 6-0) over Niagara's Greg Kaufman and also combined with Mike Rockman to defeat Alex Abji and Jonathan Bozanich, 8-2, in the doubles competition.

In Sunday's matches, the Bulls won eight of nine matches against Youngstown State and took six of the 10 matches from St. Bonaventure.

Against the Penguins, UB junior Joe Popielarczyk scored a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Zach Landgraff. Popielarczyk also combined with Mike Zappone for an 8-3 doubles win over Jason Trapp and Landgraff.

A sweep of the three doubles matchups was the key to UB taking the majority of the contests against the Bonnies. Randy Rocchio and Matt Kennedy scored a tiebreaker victory to defeat Andrew Hart and Sajeel Qureshi, 9-8 (7-2). Rockman and Liederman picked up a 9-7 win over Nikhil Murali and Alejandro Nery. Nick Zieziula and Yules Hadisubroto had an easier effort, downing Mario Arce and Dejan Stankovic, 8-2. Rockman, Hadisubroto and Zappone registered singles wins. Hadisubroto picked up a "double-bagel" over Stankovic.

For the weekend, the Bulls went undefeated in doubles play, winning all 10 matches. Zieziula and Hadisubroto and Rockman and Liederman picked up three victories, while the Rocchio and Kennedy and Popielarczyk and Zappone duos both went 2-0.

Regularly held at St. Bonaventure, this season's tournament was moved to UB while St. Bonaventure's courts are being renovated and to accommodate player schedules for the weekend.

The Bulls will travel to New Hampshire next weekend to compete in the Dartmouth Invitational.