University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 26, 2006

Football

Ohio 42, UB 7

Ohio University took full advantage of a huge discrepancy in field position in the first half to build a big lead en route to a 42-7 win over UB in a Mid-American Conference game on Saturday at Peden Stadium.

For the fifth time in seven games, the Bulls (1-6, 0-5 in the MAC) allowed a touchdown on the opposition's first drive of the game. The Bobcats opened the scoring with 10:06 remaining in the first quarter with a drive that traveled 75 yards in six plays—including a 53-yard run by Chido Nwokocha—and was capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by Kalvin McRae.

UB suffered from horrendous field position the entire first half, starting drives from its own 17-, 5-, 1-, 20-, 1- and 14-yard lines. Meanwhile, Ohio's average start was from its own 48-yard line, which played a huge role in the Bobcats' 28-0 halftime lead.

UB's lone score of the game came on its first drive of the second half. The Bulls converted a third-and-22 on a 28-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Drew Willy to freshman tailback James Starks, and a third-and-11 on a career-long 22-yard rush by Willy. Starks finished the drive by scoring from four yards out for his third touchdown of the season to cut the lead to 28-7. However, that was as close as the Bulls could get as the Bobcats tacked on two more touchdowns.

UB will step out of conference play to travel to Boston College for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 1, Northern Illinois 0

UB delivered a lethal blow in the conference standings to 19th-ranked Northern Illinois Friday night, giving the Huskies their first MAC loss of the season in a 1-0 shutout win.

On a brisk evening, eight UB seniors were honored on the eve of their final regular season home match. In light of the emotional ceremony, the Bulls (9-5-2, 3-1 MAC) started out the game crisp, looking to take control right away. Fortunately for the Huskies, they were able to counter the Bulls' attack with key opportunities of their own. Despite 5-4 shot differential in the first half, both teams volleyed for position and played stellar defense. Senior Daniel Bell made three amazing saves to keep the scoreboard blank at the end of the first 45 minutes.

NIU created an early scare midway through the second half, putting the ball in the net at the 67th minute mark off a free-kick, but the goal was called off due to the team's only off sides call of the game. With the score still tied at 0-0, the Bulls created their best scoring chance of the game off a throw-in from senior Sola Abolaji. Abolaji hurled the ball to the center of the pitch, where it was trapped by senior Andrae Clarke, who took a dribble to his right and planted the ball in the bottom right corner of the net at 85:23 for the lone goal of the game.

The win keeps alive UB's hopes of winning its first MAC regular season title. The Bulls now need a win over Akron in the team's final game of the season at 7 p.m. tomorrow to clinch at least a first-place tie.

WOMEN'S

UB 3, Cornell 0
UB 2, Akron 1
Ohio 3, UB 1

Coming out of the gates in the first half without a goal, UB exploded with three goals in the second half to hand Cornell a 3-0 shutout loss on Oct. 18.

Junior Ashley Turner broke a scoreless tie in the 54th minute with a loft over the Cornell goalkeeper. The Bulls scored again shortly thereafter when sophomore Andrea Vescio battled through a pesky Cornell defense to hammer home her team-leading fifth goal of the season. Sophomore Brooke McCalla buried any chance of a Big Red comeback with a shot to the bottom of the back post to give the Bulls the 3-0 edge.

UB kept its MAC post-season hopes alive Friday night, downing the Akron Zips 2-1. Vescio scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season and junior Katie Fage sent another one through the pipes to help the Bulls claim an important victory on the road.

The Bulls stumbled in their second-to-last MAC match on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Ohio University Bobcats 3-1. The Bulls, still on the cusp of qualifying for the 2006 MAC Tournament, fell to 4-5-0 in the league and 8-9-0 overall.

With the Bobcats leading 2-0, UB finally got on the board in the 70th minute when junior Heidi Griffiths headed a pass from Fage past Ohio goalkeeper Dominique Wright. The Bobcats answered, however, with 2:57 remaining in the game to make the final score 3-1.

UB will wrap up regular season MAC action today with a game against Kent State in Kent, OH.

Volleyball

Bowling Green 3, UB 0
Miami (OH) 3, UB 0

The visiting Bowling Green Falcons became the first MAC team to have 20 wins on Friday night as they downed UB, 3-0, in Alumni Arena. The Bulls were hosting their first game in three weeks, but were unable to stop one of the nation's hottest teams as BGSU won its 16th straight match.

From the beginning of the match, Bowling Green had the advantage and took the match easily, 30-16, 30-18, 30-14. The Falcons hit over .400 in each of the three games, including a .467 in the match-clinching third game.

The Bulls dropped their fourth straight match on Saturday night, falling to Miami (OH), 3-0, in Alumni Arena. The loss drops UB to 13-14 on the season and 2-8 in conference play. It is also the first time UB has fallen under .500 since the first weekend of the season.

The Bulls played tough against a red-hot Miami (OH) team that won its seventh straight match. The RedHawks won the contest, 30-26, 30-23, 30-28.

UB will return home this weekend for its final two regular season home matches. The Bulls will host Eastern Michigan tomorrow night and Central Michigan on Saturday night. Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. UB will honor its three seniors before the match against CMU.

Cross Country

Bulls prep for MAC Championships at Cornell meet

UB completed its regular season in Ithaca at Cornell's Reif Memorial Invitational. There was no team scoring in the meet that also included Syracuse, Cortland State and Ithaca, as well as the Bulls and the host Big Red. Torrential rains the night before the meet prompted a modification of the course.

In the men's race, contested at five miles, UB's Andy Leonard finished fifth in 27:28, behind four Cornell runners.

In the women's 5K race, which featured 40 runners, senior Kate Kohout was UB's top finisher. Kohout finished 10th overall in 19:12, tying her season-best mark set at the Toledo Invitational on Sept. 16.

The Bulls used the race as a preparation to this weekend's MAC Championships, which the Bulls will host for the first time. The meet will be held on Saturday at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island, with the men's race slated to begin at 11 a.m. and the women's race at noon.

Tennis

MEN'S

Three Bulls reach second round at ITA's

Three players represented the Bulls at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's regional championships held last weekend at the University of Pennsylvania, and all three—Mike Rockman, Nikesh Singh Panthlia and Yules Hadisubroto—reached the second round in their disciplines before bowing out of the tourney.

UB's doubles tandem of Rockman and Hadisubroto reached the second round of the doubles competition, knocking off Quinnipiac's Stefano Salvatore and Goldy Sherrill, 8-2, in Friday's opening match. However, the UB pair was defeated 8-1 by Brown's Basu Ratnam and Eric Thomas in the round of 32.

The Bulls will travel to Ithaca next weekend to compete in the Cornell Invitational.

WOMEN'S

Novaceanu advances to ITA quarterfinals; Nenova sets doubles mark

UB tennis player Andreea Novaceanu moved into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional tournament's quarterfinal round with a pair of straight-set victories on Sunday at Dartmouth University.

Novaceanu, who earned a first-round bye and did not see action until Sunday's second round, scored an easy victory in her opening match, downing Albany's Kim Weltman, 6-2, 6-2 to move along in the tournament.

In her second match of the day, she needed a first-set tiebreaker win, but still picked up the win, downing Marshall's Lynzee Kever, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

The two wins on Sunday give Novaceanu a 9-1 in the 2006-07 campaign and 55 singles victories for her three-year career. The 55 wins ties her for second on the all-time list with senior teammate Miglena Nenova. Assistant coach Kristen Ortman (2002-06) heads the list with 59 singles triumphs.

Nenova became the school's all-time winningest doubles individual as she and Denise Harijanto defeated Dartmouth's Jesse Adler and Kerry Snow in the first round of the tournament, 8-4. The pair advanced to a second-round matchup with third-seeded Marianne Baker and Eleanor Peters of Maryland. Nevona and Harijanto fell to the Terrapin twosome, 8-4, however, and were eliminated from the tournament.

Crew

UB finishes 32nd at Head of the Charles

UB sent one boat to compete in the prestigious Head of the Charles. The Bulls competed in the championship women's eight race, finishing in an adjusted time of 17:16.398. A squad representing U.S. Rowing's Princeton Training Center won the overall competition in 15:36.733.

Members of the boat are coxswain Sheralyn Briggs and rowers Corinne Blum, Melina DiCosimo, Nicole Cyr, Jessica Hughes, Amanda MacKeigan, Bridget Yannes, Lauren Sexton and Amanda Garbacz.