University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 18, 2007

Football

UB 43, Toledo 33

UB used a first-half offensive explosion and a bend-but-don't-break second-half defensive effort to defeat Toledo, 43-33, before 12,529 fans during Family Weekend on Saturday.

Sophomore tailback James Starks ran for a career-high 231 yards on 34 carries—the third highest total in school history—and quarterback Drew Willy threw a career-best three touchdown passes to pace a big-play UB offense. Safeties Davonte Shannon, who had 15 tackles with 2.5 for losses, and Mike Newton, who had 13 tackles and an interception, paced a UB defense that recorded 13 tackles for loss and two interceptions.

The win, the Bulls' second straight, moved UB to 3-4 on the season and 3-1 in Mid-American Conference play. It was also UB's first win against Toledo since joining the MAC. The three wins also matches the most the Bulls have recorded in their nine years in Division I-A play with five weeks of the season remaining. The Bulls won their second straight home game with a series of big plays as Toledo lost despite running 101 offensive plays.

The Bulls could hardly have started the game quicker. Naaman Roosevelt returned the opening kickoff 35 yards. Just two plays later, Starks took an option pitch from quarterback Willy and raced 45 yards around left end for his 10th touchdown of the season. Buffalo led 7-0 after the PAT with just 23 seconds gone in the first quarter.

The Bulls phenomenal start continued. Senior defensive end Trevor Scott had two tackles for loss as the Rockets lost a total of four yards on three plays on their first possession. UB's special teams then got involved, forcing Toledo punter Brett Kern into a fumble. Senior Simon Manka made the tackle at the Rockets' nine-yard line.

From there, it took Starks just one play to record his 11th touchdown of the season, scoring from nine yards out to give Buffalo a 13-0 lead with 12:50 left on the clock. Freshman kicker A.J. Principe added the PAT to make it 14-0.

The Rockets cut into the UB lead with a field goal to make the score 14-3, with 9:21 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bulls, however, responded with another huge offensive play. After stopping the Rockets, UB just four plays to go 80 yards, the capper a 75-yard catch-and-run throw from Willy to flanker Ernest Jackson. The play was the longest of the season by the Bulls, and both Willy and Jackson's career bests. After the PAT, Buffalo led 21-3 with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Willy led the Bulls on another touchdown drive late in the first quarter, completing a 14-yard aerial to sophomore Brett Hamlin and finishing the drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Roosevelt. It was Roosevelt's first touchdown of the season and gave UB a 28-3 lead with 17 seconds left in the first quarter. The 28 points in the first quarter was the most UB has scored since moving up to Division I-A in 1999.

The Bulls found another way to get on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. Senior linebacker Larry Hutchinson sacked D.J. Lenahan in the Rockets' end zone to increase UB's lead to 30-10 on the safety.

Willy then set a new career high with his third touchdown pass of the first Half, hitting Jackson from 16 yards out to increase the UB lead to 36-13 with 4:22 remaining. Jackson finished the game with four catches for a career-best 107 yards and two scores.

A late touchdown by Toledo cut the lead to 36-19. Freshman Domonic Cook blocked the Toledo extra point, sending UB to halftime with a 36-19 lead.

Toledo cut further into the UB lead with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter, marching 74 yards in nine plays to cut the lead to 36-26.

The Bulls defense then came up huge on back-to-back possessions, stopping Toledo when the Rockets were trying to cut the lead to less than 10. The Bulls stopped the first possession inside their own territory when junior defensive tackle Mike Thompson recorded his first career interception to snuff out a Toledo drive at the UB 37-yard line.

After UB was stopped again on downs, the Bulls' defense rose up again, with Thompson and Chris Callahan recording a sack on third down to stop the drive.

The Bulls wisely stopped the clock late in the third quarter, forcing Toledo to punt into the wind. Brett Kern got off just a 26-yard punt, setting UB up at the Rockets' 48-yard line. Starks then ran for 5, 4 and 3 yards before bursting up the middle and going untouched for 36 yards to give the Bulls another touchdown and some breathing room.

The Rockets cut the UB lead to 43-33 with more than six minutes remaining. However, the Bulls were able to convert three fourth-down plays on its final drive and eventually stopped the Rockets inside the UB 20 to end the game.

The Bulls will travel to Syracuse for a 4 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Volleyball

Western Michigan 3, UB 0
Northern Illinois 3, UB 0

UB returned home after a three-match road trip, but was unable to come away with a victory, falling to Western Michigan, 3-0, Friday night in Alumni Arena.

The Broncos took the match, 30-15, 30-12, 30-17, hitting .350 for the night in contract to a -.020 hitting percentage for UB. Senior Lizaiha Garcia continued to be a force on defense, as she notched a match-high 17 digs and a service ace, while sophomore Ellen Robertson added seven digs. Junior Claudia Neba and freshman Kristin Bignell each had a team-high six kills and both contributed with two block assists. Freshman Lindsey Schlegel had a match-high 21 assists, while adding two kills and five digs.

On Saturday, the Bulls put up a vigorous fight in game three of its MAC match with Northern Illinois, but were unable to take the victory, falling to the Huskies, 3-0, in Alumni Arena. The match concluded the team's alumni weekend activities, in which past UB players came to see the team play and spent time with the players and coaching staff.

Northern Illinois took the match, 30-16, 30-21, 30-26, hitting .313 for the match, compared to a .148 hitting percentage for the Bulls.

UB made a charge in the third game, leading for most of the game, including a 25-20 advantage. However, the Huskies took a 10-1 run to end the match. In that third game, senior Sarah Streib recorded three service aces to anchor a 7-0 UB run.

The Bulls will embark on their final road trip of the 2007 regular season, hitting the road for the next five matches before wrapping up the season at Alumni Arena. The Bulls will be at Eastern Michigan tomorrow for a match with the Eagles.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 2, Western Michigan 1

Dezi Lara and Dan Stevens each netted goals as UB picked up a 2-1 victory on the road at Western Michigan on Friday. The victory moved the Bulls to 8-3-2 overall and 2-0 in the MAC.

Lara opened the scoring less than eight minutes into the match when he found the net off of a corner kick. Alex Marrello took the corner for the Bulls and got an assist on the play. Dominic Oppong also picked up an assist on the goal. The goal was the first of Lara's career at UB.

The Bulls increased their lead to 2-0 in the 54th minute when Stevens scored for the second straight match. Stevens controlled a pass from Dan Bulley off of his chest and fired a shot into the upper corner of the net past Western Michigan goalkeeper Casey Aubil. Along with Bulley, Juha Kaartoluoma registered an assist on the goal, his first as a Bull.

Western Michigan cut the UB lead in half when C.J. Brown beat Robert Shuttleworth in the 62nd minute, but it was not enough. Shuttleworth made six saves in goal for the Bulls en route to picking up his seventh victory of the season.

The Bulls will once again be on the road this weekend, traveling to defending MAC champion Northern Illinois on Saturday.

WOMEN'S

Toledo 2, UB 1
UB 1, Bowling Green 0

UB fell to the Toledo Rockets, 2-1, on Friday in what was the squad's first home match in almost a month. UB's second-half rally was sparked by defender Nikki Wilson, who scored the Bulls' only goal at the 82:16 mark.

The Rockets, who remained undefeated in the MAC following the victory, scored first in the 30th minute on a Molly Cornwell goal and again on another goal from Cornwell at 77:23.

UB goalkeeper Amy Coron finished the game with eight saves.

The Bulls scored their first MAC victory of the season on Sunday, downing the Bowling Green Falcons, 1-0, in UB Stadium.

Coron notched her second shutout of the season, while Andrea Vescio scored the eventual game-winner for the Bulls. Vescio put UB on the board in the 33rd minute after collecting a pass from senior Ashley Turner and firing a turn-around shot from inside the box that found the back of the far-post net. The goal was Vescio's fourth of the season.

Coron finished the game with 10 saves.

The Bulls will return to MAC action tomorrow when they travel to Eastern Michigan. UB will continue its road trip with a match at Central Michigan on Sunday.

Cross Country

Bulls prep for MACs at Falcon Invite

UB prepared for the upcoming MAC Championships by meeting several of its conference cohorts at the Bowling Green Falcon Invitational on Saturday. The Bulls picked up strong individual finishes on both the men's and women's sides as both teams finished near the top of the team standings.

The UB men placed fourth among 13 squads with a team total of 98 points as MAC foe Kent State scored 32 to take team honors. The UB women finished sixth in an 18-team field with 163 points as MAC member Miami held off fellow MAC squad Toledo, 65-69, to take the women's meet.

Individually, the UB women picked up a pair of top-five finishes. Junior Mary Veith was the top finisher for the Bulls, crossing the finish line third in a personal-best time of 17:45.47. The time was Veith's fastest 5K clocking of the season as she cut 54 seconds off her first-place time from the UB Stampede Open on Sept. 22.

Joining Veith in the women's top five was sophomore Nicole Soblosky, who cut nearly a minute and a half off her previous season best with a time of 18:02.67.

In the men's meet, senior Dan Giza turned in another season-best clocking with his fourth-place time of 25:23.69.

Freshman Ryan Bloom also had a season-best time with his 17th-place finish of 25:54.84.

The Bulls will compete in the MAC Championships, beginning Oct. 27 at Central Michigan University.

Swimming

Swimmers open season with WNY Invite

The men's and women's swim teams opened the 2007-08 campaign on Saturday by hosting the WNY Invitational in the Alumni Arena Natatorium. There was no team scoring in the meet, which also included men's and women's squads from Canisius, Niagara, St. Bonaventure and Binghamton.

The UB women won 10 of the 15 events, highlighted by five individual wins and a relay victory by sophomore Andrea Lehner. Lehner, who swam at Maryland last season, impressed in her first individual race, winning the 500-yard freestyle in 4:58.93, just one second off the UB school record set by Jennefer Brankovsky in 2004. Lehner also scored first-place finishes in the two other distance freestyle races—the 200-yard freestyle, which she took in 1:56.24, and the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:15.36. Lehner also won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:08.25 and the 200-yard backstroke in 2:05.43.

Lehner opened the meet by swimming the opening leg of UB's winning 200-yard medley relay. The foursome of Lehner, Ashley Schaffert, Jessie Koltz and Sam Palma won in 1:49.43, holding off St. Bonaventure's top squad by three-tenths of a second.

Koltz also won the 50-yard freestyle, turning in a time of 25.07. Sam Eckert won the 100-yard butterfly in 58.52. Jessica Ballard took the 400-yard individual medley by the slimmest of margins. Ballard turned in a time of 4:39.99, touching out St. Bonaventure's Kara Small by four-hundredths of a second.

The Bulls completed the meet with another relay victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as the squad of Meghan Lafferty, Palma, Koltz and Andrea Scharf touched the wall in 1:41.06, a second ahead of another UB foursome.

The UB men were led by sophomore Connor Vander Zalm in the distance freestyle races. Vander Zalm won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:48.85 and the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:01.30. He also placed second in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:23.24.

Both squads will host Duquesne in the first dual meet of the season tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Alumni Arena Natatorium.