University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: October 25, 2007

Football

Syracuse 20, UB 12

Quarterback Drew Willy tied a school record with 32 completions, but UB couldn't find the end zone in a 20-12 loss at Syracuse.

The Bulls, who rolled up 359 yards of offense, could only manage four field goals by freshman kicker A.J. Principe. The final three minutes of the first half turned out to be the difference as Syracuse broke a 3-3 tie with two touchdowns in a span of 2:14 late in the first half. Freshman safety Davonte Shannon had nine tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and an interception to pace the Bulls' defense.

The Bulls opened the game on a strong note, scoring on their opening possession for the second straight week. UB marched 60 yards in 11 plays capped by a 31-yard field goal by Principe. The key plays were a 16-yard pass from Willy to Naaman Roosevelt and a 15-yard run by tailback James Starks. It was Principe's fourth field goal of the season.

After an exchange of series, the Bulls were forced to punt from their own 10-yard line. Senior punter Ben Woods uncorked a 69-yard punt and after an illegal block in the back by the Orange, ended up putting Syracuse back at their own 11-yard line.

However, the Orange overcame the tough field position by starting a drive that would finish inside the Bulls' 20-yard line. On a third-and-11 play, Shannon sacked quarterback Andrew Robinson, forcing a fumble that the Orange recovered. Placekicker Patrick Shadle kicked a 32-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3 with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Bulls got a tremendous defensive stop after the Orange had driven inside the Buffalo 30-yard line. Freshman cornerback Josh Thomas intercepted Robinson in the Bulls' end zone. It was Thomas' first career interception.

The Orange took the lead going into halftime, using a 60-yard pass and run from Robinson to Taj Smith that got Syracuse out of the shadow of its own goal post after a Woods punted had downed them at the one-yard line. Doug Hogue capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds left to give Syracuse a 10-3 lead.

The Bulls' fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Syracuse recovered at the UB 26-yard line. Syracuse took full advantage of the turnover, with Robinson hitting Mike Williams from 11 yards out with 15 seconds left in the half to give Syracuse a 17-3 lead.

After an exchange of punts to start the third quarter, the Bulls got the turnover they were looking for. Shannon recorded his third interception of the season at the UB 33-yard line to stop another Orange scoring opportunity.

The Bulls took advantage of the turnover with another drive ending in a field goal. Willy hit all five of his passes for 45 yards on the drive, including a 12-yard hookup to Brett Hamlin and a 13-yard connection with Gary Rice. Principe finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal with 3:35 left in the third quarter.

UB continued to creep closer, with a time-consuming drive that took 19 plays and ended with Principe's third field goal of the game, this time from 29 yards out. Syracuse regained its 11-point advantage with a field goal of its own at the 6:54 mark, but Principe struck again with his fourth field goal of the game, a 32-yarder with 4:42 on the clock. Principe became the first UB player with four field goals in a game since Dallas Pelz had five against Toledo on Nov. 1, 2003.

UB could not get any closer though, as Syracuse converted on two third-down plays on its final drive to hold on for the eight-point victory.

The Bulls final four games of the season are against opponents from the Mid-American Conference East Division. The Bulls will host Akron at 1 p.m. Saturday in UB Stadium.

Volleyball

Eastern Michigan 3, UB 0
Central Michigan 3, UB 0

UB fought hard against the host Eastern Michigan Eagles, but fell to EMU, 3-0, Friday night. UB had its best chance in game three where it hit .216, but fell just short.

EMU took the match, 30-25, 30-26, 30-28, but the Bulls had opportunities in each of the three games on the evening. UB was led by freshman Richelle Bigelow, who recorded a team-high 10 kills in her return to the court after missing the last 13 matches. Bigelow also had three digs and three service aces. Junior Claudia Neba had nine kills and a match-high 14 digs, and added three total blocks, including one solo, and two service aces. Freshman Kristin Bignell had five kills in the middle and added four block assists.

Freshman Lindsey Schlegel did a good job setting up the UB offense, recording 32 assists on the evening. Schlegel also added nine digs, two block assists and a service ace. Senior Lizaiha Garcia had 13 digs, while sophomore Ellen Robertson had eight digs and two service aces.

UB's five-match road trip stopped at Mt. Pleasant, Mich., on Saturday, where the Bulls fell to the host Central Michigan Chippewas, 3-0.

CMU took the match, 30-13, 30-15, 30-22, outhitting UB .386 to .059. Bigelow led the way for the Bulls for the second straight match with 10 kills. Sophomore Kelsey Lueders had six kills and just two errors on 17 total attacks. Schlegel added a match-high 21 assists and seven digs with a service ace. Garcia led the way for UB with eight digs.

The Bulls will continue their road trip this weekend, stopping at Kent State tomorrow and nationally ranked Ohio on Saturday.

Soccer

MEN'S

UB 2, Northern Illinois 1 (OT)

With a 2-1 overtime victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon, UB improved its record to 9-3-2 and maintained a perfect 3-0 record in the MAC.

Sophomore forward Dan Bulley opened the scoring in the 25th minute when he took a pass from Dan Stevens and found the back of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. Northern Illinois leveled the match in the 33rd minute when Chris Johnson beat Buffalo goalkeeper Daniel Bell.

The teams headed to overtime after neither was able to find a goal in the second half. As they have done all season, the Bulls found a winning goal in the extra session. Bulley scored his second of the match—and team-leading seventh of the season—off a corner kick by sophomore Alex Marrello, who recorded his team-best sixth assist on the play.

UB is now 5-0-2 in overtime matches this season.

Bell made six saves between the posts for the Bulls and picked up his 35th career victory, further extending his school record.

The Bulls return home tomorrow when they host the Akron Zips, ranked 16th by College Soccer News. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

WOMEN'S

Eastern Michigan 7, UB 1
UB 1, Central Michigan 0

UB lost on the road Friday night, falling to the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 7-1, in Ypsilanti.

Sophomore Caitlin Higgins scored the Bulls' only goal, while freshman Martina Pettenuzzo picked up her first career assist and her first career point.

Higgins got UB on the scoreboard first, finding the back of the net on a header off the foot of Pettenuzzo just under five minutes into the game. The goal was Higgins' second of the season.

The Eagles struck back, tallying a trio of goals to take a 3-1 advantage into the half. EMU then scored four more unanswered goals in the second half to take the 7-1 win.

The Bulls gained their second MAC win of the season on Sunday, defeating the Central Michigan Chippewas, 1-0, in Mount Pleasant.

The loan goal was scored by freshman Lindsey Bailey in the 64th minute off a cross from senior Ashley Turner.

Bulls' goalkeeper Amy Coron finished with 11 saves.

The Bulls will return to conference action at home tomorrow with a 4 p.m. match against Ball State in UB Stadium.

Swimming

MEN'S

UB 129, Duquesne 107

UB earned its first dual-meet victory of the season on Friday against visiting Duquesne, 129-107.

The Bulls won seven of the 13 events. Sophomore Connor Vander Zalm won both distance freestyle races for the second consecutive week.

Vander Zalm, named the MAC's Men's Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 17, lowered his time from last week's Western New York Invitational to take the 1,000-yard freestyle race in 9:51.41, 10 seconds better than his mark last Saturday. Vander Zalm also scored a win in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:50.38.

Sophomore Michael McDowell set two new school records in winning both the one- and three-meter diving competitions. McDowell scored 325.88 points on the one-meter board, bettering his own mark from last season by two points. He came back to claim the three-meter victory, bettering his existing school record of 338.80 points by scoring 356.92 points for the six-dive program.

The most exciting race of the day was the 100-yard butterfly. Junior Kevin Schuster held on down the stretch to defeat Duquesne's Jim O'Hara by one-hundredth of a second.

Zach Ruske led the Bulls to a one-two-three finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Ruske won the race in 2:00.24, Andrew Tamchyna was second in 2:01.26 and Mike Hurst was third in 2:04.81. Tamchyna later won the 100-yard backstroke in 53.82, posting the Bulls' fastest time of the year in the event.

UB will host MAC champion Eastern Michigan on Nov. 9.

WOMEN'S

UB 128.5, Duquesne 84.5

UB scored a 128.5-84.5 victory over visiting Duquesne on Friday to open the dual-meet schedule at Alumni Arena Natatorium.

UB won eight of the first 10 events before swimming the remaining three events as exhibitions. Sophomores Andrea Lehner and Jessica Ballard each won two individual events, with Ballard adding a relay victory to her total.

Lehner, named MAC Women's Swimmer of the Week, swept the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races. Ballard won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:11.76 and later came back to win the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.25. She also swam the backstroke portion of UB's winning 200-yard medley relay, joining with Ashley Schaffert, Sam Palma and Jessie Koltz to touch the wall in 1:48.49.

Sophomore diver Meili Carpenter broke the school record for one-meter diving with her six-dive total of 311.25 points.

Palma won the 100-yard freestyle in 57.74, while freshman Jordan Deren took the 500-yard freestyle in 5:08.07.

The Bulls will travel to Miami (Ohio) Nov.2 and Ohio University Nov. 3 to open the MAC slate.

Tennis

MEN'S

Bulls complete play at ITA Regionals

Nikesh Singh Panthlia and Kirill Kolomytes represented the Bulls at the 2007 ITA Regional Championships in Princeton, N.J., both scoring first-round singles wins before bowing out in the second round. The two also combined to play doubles at the tournament.

Singh Panthlia opened play with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 first-round win over Dartmouth's Jeffrey Schechtman. He was defeated in the second round, 6-1, 7-5, by Brown's Saurabh Kohli, the tournament's 14th seed.

Kolomytes, playing at the bottom of the 128-player draw, picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win over Columbia's Dan Urban on Friday, but was eliminated by the number-two seed, Princeton's Peter Capkovic, 6-1, 6-1, on Saturday.

In doubles play, Singh Panthlia and Kolomytes were bounced out in the first round with an 8-4 loss to Matt Gordon and Phil Stephens of Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Bulls will complete their fall tournament schedule this weekend at the Cornell Fall Invitational.

WOMEN'S

Fall season ends with regional action

UB completed its fall season this past weekend at the ITA Regionals held at Old Dominion University. Four UB student-athletes represented the Bulls in both singles and doubles play.

In doubles action, seniors Tina Jacob and Andreea Novaceanu received a bye in the opening round of the qualifying round, but fell in a tight 8-6 match to Sarah Lederhandler and Jessie Rhee of Yale. In the main draw, sophomore Denise Harijanto and freshman Diana Popescu dropped an 8-0 decision to Megan Moulton-Levy and Katarina Zoricic of William and Mary, the top-ranked team in the East.

In singles play, Harijanto cruised through her qualifying matches to reach the main draw. She started the tournament with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Katharine Attwell of Boston College, and followed with a victory over Anne Houghton of Army, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4, to move into the main draw. In her first match in the main draw, Harijanto took both sets, 6-0, against Caitlin White of Towson before falling to 10th-ranked Janet Kim of Yale, 6-4, 6-2.

Novaceanu, who took a number 18 ranking into the tournament, received a bye in the opening round and then defeated Denise Liebschner of Seton Hall, 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the round of 32. In that round, she faced the 12th seed, Inga Beermann of Virginia Tech. Novaceanu took the first set, 6-1, but Beermann took the second set, 7-5, and the third, 6-0.

Crew

Lightweight eight competes at Head of the Charles

UB sent its lightweight eight squad to the Head of the Charles Regatta on Sunday and scored a ninth-place finish out of 14 boats.

The lightweight eight boat—coxswain Sarah McCann and rowers Diana Minardo, Diane Passenant, Andrea Patterson, Beth Gaworecki, Stevie Feig, Maureen Jones, Regina Yazbeck and Jessica Lau—finished sixth among other collegiate crews with an adjusted time of 18:33.443. The London Training Center took the top time at 16:15.442 and the top collegiate finisher was Princeton at 17:18.602. The Bulls finish above crews from Lehigh, Radcliffe, Massachusetts and Penn State.

The Bulls will be back in action Saturday at the Head of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia.