University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: September 14, 2006

Football

Bowling Green 48, UB 40 (3OT)

In the longest game in UB history, the Bulls finally fell to Bowling Green, 48-40, in three overtimes in the Mid-American Conference football opener for both schools.

The game, which twice was delayed by lightning strikes, lasted five hours and 18 minutes and featured six lead changes and some of the most spectacular plays in UB's Division I-A history. It marked the second straight week the Bulls have gone to overtime, after beating Temple, 9-3, in its home opener.

The game finally ended in the third overtime when the Bulls were stopped on a fourth-and-one play at the BGSU 16-yard line after the Falcons had scored on

their possession in overtime. The Bulls nearly pulled off one of their most dramatic road wins in history, despite being outgained 570-243 yards. It was UB's special teams and never-say-die attitude that kept them a few agonizing plays away from victory.

The Falcons started fast, driving 71 yards in just six plays—all on the ground—to take the early lead just 2:15 into the game. Quarterback Anthony Turner finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw.

After a one-hour-and-eight-minute delay because of severe weather, UB struck back with some lightning of its own. On the first kickoff return of his career, freshman Naaman Roosevelt went 94 yards up the center of the field for his first career touchdown. It was the first kickoff return for a score by the Bulls since Oct. 14, 1989.

Bowling Green again drove deep into Bulls' territory before UB's special teams again came up with the big play. After stopping the Falcons at the 11-yard line, sophomore Ronald Hilaire blocked a 27-yard field-goal attempt by kicker Sean Ellis. After the block, UB drove past midfield before Jared Patterson lost control of a handoff and fumbled, with the Falcons recovering at their own 45-yard line.

Right after the fumble, another weather delay took place, delaying the game for another 39 minutes. After the delay, BG turned to freshman quarterback Freddie Barnes, who led the Falcons on a 55-yard touchdown drive, capping it with a one-yard touchdown run.

UB's special teams struck early in the second quarter after the Bulls stopped the Falcons at their own 25-yard line. True freshman Sherrod Lott blocked the punt and Patterson recovered it in the end zone for a Bulls' touchdown to tie the score at 14-14 with 13:04 left.

On the ensuing Bowling Green possession, the Bulls' forced another punt and the special-teams fireworks continued. Roosevelt took the punt and returned it 55 yards to the BG 31-yard line. However, two Bull's penalties ended the drive and they were forced to kick.

UB took a 17-14 lead into intermission after a time-consuming drive in which the Bulls drove 65 yards in 15 plays, capped by a 19-yard field goal by freshman kicker Taylor Packwood.

The Falcons regained the lead on their opening drive of the third quarter. Dan Macon capped the drive by going 25 yards for the score. However, the extra-point kick was blocked by junior Marck Abraham to keep BG ahead, 20-17.

The Bulls responded again, going 57 yards on nine plays, capped by a 13-yard touchdown run by quarterback Drew Willy.

The Bulls extended the lead after a huge play by the defense. Senior linebacker Jeff Bublavi jarred the ball loose from Turner, with defensive end James Judges recovering at the BG 25. Packwood then drilled a 25-yard field goal to extend the Bulls' lead to 27-20 with 37 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Bulls' defense came up with another huge play when redshirt freshman safety Mike Newton intercepted Turner inside the Bulls' 10-yard line to thwart a Falcon drive. Another Falcon drive inside the UB 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter was stopped when linebackers Ollice Ervin and Ramon Guzman—who had 13 tackles—combined to stop Turner on fourth down.

However, the Bulls' defense finally broke in the final two minutes—after the UB offense failed to earn a first down—giving up a 17-yard touchdown pass from Turner to Ruben Ruiz with 1:30 remaining and sending the game into a wild, three-overtime period.

In the first overtime after a BG touchdown, the Bulls took nine plays to score, with senior Steven King bursting in from one yard out. The Bulls took possession of the ball first in the second OT, and again got a one-yard TD run, this time by Patterson. However, Packwood's PAT (point after touchdown) was blocked and UB led, 40-34.

Bowling Green scored just one play later on a 25-yard pass from Turner to Brandon Jones and it looked like the game would end. However, Judges blocked The PAT kick and the game continued.

The Falcons finally closed it out when Ruiz caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Turner and converted the two-point conversion (by rule after the second overtime, teams have to go for two points). The Bulls' final drive ended when King was stopped on fourth and one at the 16-yard line. On the play, King fumbled and Willy picked it up and appeared to run for a touchdown. However, by rule, the only player that can advance a fumble on fourth down is the ball carrier, so the play was called dead and the Falcons escaped with the win.

The Bulls will stay on the road on Saturday, traveling to Northern Illinois.

Soccer

MEN'S

Loyola-Chicago 2, UB 1
UB 5, Valparaiso 1

UB faltered against Loyola-Chicago, 2-1, in an attempt to win its first non-tournament road game of the season.

After shooting to a scoreless draw in the first half, the Ramblers came out in the second half with a vendetta. Freshman Michael Ferguson scored two goals to lift Loyola to a 2-0 lead heading into the 60th minute.

Senior Sola Abolaji came off the bench to net the lone UB goal off a feed from junior Lee Catchpole at the 73:34 mark.

The Bulls rebounded quickly, scoring a season-high five goals in Sunday's 5-1 win against Valparaiso. The Bulls (2-2-1) scored the first four goals of the match. Senior forward Andrae Clarke netted a career-best three goals, his first three of the season. Catchpole and senior Braden Byler scored the two other UB goals.

WOMEN'S

UC-Riverside 4, UB 1
UC-Irvine 1, UB 0

UB dropped a hard-fought, 4-1 contest to University of California-Riverside on Friday in its first game of the Puma Classic, hosted by UC-Irvine.

The Highlanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead, with the Bulls getting on the board midway through the second half when freshman Cheyra Bell tallied the first goal of her career on a cross from senior Jessica Roesch.

UC-Riverside scored its final goal with 2:49 left on the clock.

On Sunday night, the Bulls (2-4-0) dropped a 1-0 decision to UC-Irvine.

Despite the losses, Roesch and sophomore Brooke McCalla were named to the all-tournament team. The Bulls finished fourth in the tournament.

The Bulls will take on cross-town rival Canisius at 4 p.m. tomorrow in UB Stadium.

Volleyball

UB 3, Syracuse 0
UB 3, Rhode Island 2
UB 3, Holy Cross 0
UB 3, Army 0

UB continued its winning ways last week, taking four matches to extend its streak to nine, the longest since 1995.

In the victory over Syracuse on Sept. 5, the Bulls took the three games in dramatic fashion, winning, 30-28, 30-28, 30-24. The biggest comeback was in the second game when the Bulls were down 22-15.

UB continued to show why it is the top blocking team in the MAC, recording another nine total team blocks. Freshman Kelsey Lueders, the MAC's leading blocker, added another seven block assists to her career. Her block total was tops in the match.

The Bulls then went on to win the Crusader Classic in Worcester, Mass., with three victories. In the first game, UB pulled out a 3-2 victory over Rhode Island, 30-24, 28-30, 20-30, 30-28, 15-10. The teams hit nearly identical numbers, but it was the Bulls' ability to block—UB tied a season high with 16 total team blocks, including nine total blocks from sophomore Alyssa Fitchette—that earned them the victory.

On Saturday, the Bulls (9-2) picked up a pair of three-game victories, rolling past the host Holy Cross and Army. The Bulls defeated the host Crusaders first, 30-16, 30-27, 30-21, and then in the nightcap took three games from Army, 30-20, 30-27, 30-28.

Lueders joined senior Brandie Clark on the all-tournament team.

Cross Country

Squads place second at Tommy Evans Invitational

The men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2006 campaign on Saturday competing in the Tommy Evans Invitational hosted by the University of Akron. Both squads finished second to the host Zips.

In the men's four-mile race, UB's top finisher was senior David Welby, who finished fifth in 21:43.

UB runners finished third, fourth and fifth in the women's race, contested at 5K. Junior Aleksandra Bykowska placed third in 19:38, while senior Kate Kohout took fourth in 19:47 and sophomore Jessica Schultz finished fifth in 19:50.

The Bulls will compete at the University of Toledo Invitational this weekend.

Tennis

MEN'S

Octavian Stane wins singles title at Bonaventure Classic

UB kicked off the 2006-07 campaign at the three-day St. Bonaventure Fall Classic last weekend. There was no team scoring and individual champions were crowned in six singles and three doubles flights in the six-team tournament.

Sophomore Octavian Stane, playing in the number three singles bracket, went undefeated in his three matches and claimed the title with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 win over St. Bonaventure's Andrew Hart.

Senior Mike Rockman earned a third-place finish in the first singles bracket. Rockman downed Cleveland State's Ryan Manning, 6-0, 6-3, then fell to Niagara's Walter Garcia, 6-4, 6-4, before defeating Duquesne's Paul Clough, 6-1, 6-1.

Senior Yules Hadisubroto also played in the third-place match in the second singles bracket, falling to Brad Groleski of Cleveland State, 6-3, 6-4.

Rockman and Hadisubroto teamed to take the third-place match in the first doubles bracket, defeating Cleveland State's Dan Singer and Rob West, 9-7.

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

WOMEN'S

UB wins three singles flights at Cornell Invitational

UB opened the 2006-07 season last weekend at the Cornell Invitational. Three Bulls won singles titles in the tournament's four flights, while a pair of doubles squads played in the championship matches in their brackets.

Juniors Andreea Novaceanu and Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorghe, and freshman Diana Toia all claimed singles titles in their respective brackets. Doubles tandems Denise Harijanto and Miglena Nenova and Natalie Dean and Toia reached the finals of the doubles flights but lost in the championship matches.

The Bulls will travel to the Princeton Invitational this weekend.