University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: November 1, 2007

Football

UB 26, Akron 10

Junior quarterback Drew Willy matched his career high with three touchdown passes and a stifling Bulls defense helped UB reach another milestone on Saturday in a windy and rainy UB Stadium.

UB remained unbeaten and in first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division with a 26-10 win over visiting Akron. UB moved to 3-0 in divisional play and 4-5 overall with the victory, the most wins by a Bulls team since moving up to Division I-A in 1999.

Willy completed 11 of 14 passes for 125 yards and the Bulls' defense allowed just three points after intermission in the win. UB shut down the MAC's leading receiver, Jabari Arthur, limiting him to three catches for 39 yards, and recorded three turnovers.

The Bulls also won for the first time this season after giving up the first score. The Zips started fast, taking the opening kickoff, and with a mixture of running and passing, drove 80 yards for the first score of the game. The final yard was covered by Alex Allen to give the Zips a 7-0 lead with 9:32 remaining in the first quarter.

UB responded quickly, driving 55 yards in just 3:05 after a short kickoff into a 30 mph wind. Tailback James Starks rushed for 28 yards on five carries on the drive to set the Bulls up in scoring position. Willy threw his eighth touchdown of the season on an 11-yard hookup with flanker Ernest Jackson. It was Jackson's fourth touchdown of the season. The extra point was blocked and the Bulls still trailed, 7-6.

The Bulls' defense made its first big stop of the game when junior defensive tackle Ronald Hilaire stopped the Zips for no gain on third and one. UB's offense took over and drove 71 yards for the go-ahead score.

The big play on the drive was a 34-yard run—the longest of his career—by flanker Naaman Roosevelt, who lined up under center on the play. Willy capped the drive with his second scoring toss, a nine-yarder to Roosevelt on a slant pattern with 1:50 remaining in the first quarter. After the PAT by freshman A.J. Principe, the Bulls led 13-7.

UB's defense averted another Akron scoring opportunity in the second quarter when senior linebacker Larry Hutchinson threw tailback Bryan Williams for a four-yard loss and the Zips had to settle for a 35-yard field goal that missed wide left.

After an exchange of punts, the Zips got great field position at the UB 47-yard line. However, the Bulls stopped that drive on an interception by sophomore free safety Mike Newton—his fourth interception of the season and the ninth of his career.

The Bulls, however, could not move the ball and Akron put together a late second-quarter drive that ended with a 26-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. UB went to halftime with a 13-10 lead.

The Bulls were able to flip the field position early in the second half. After being stopped on downs, senior punter Ben Woods got off a 50-yard kick that the Bulls were able to stop at the five-yard line on a tackle by Adekunle Akingba. The Bulls defense forced a Zips' punt on a sack by senior Trevor Scott to set up another scoring drive by UB.

The Bulls drove 44 yards in 12 plays, including 26 yards on the ground by sophomore tailback Mario Henry, before Principe booted a 35-yard field goal to give UB a 16-10 lead with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bulls defense was tremendous throughout the second half, stopping Akron on four fourth-down conversion opportunities and limiting the Akron offense to 6-of-20 passing for just 62 yards after intermission.

UB's defense recorded another big stop when freshman Domonic Cook broke up a third-down pass. With the Bulls back on offense, Willy got the chains moving with a 23-yard pass completion to sophomore tight end Jesse Rack. Willy also converted a second-and-12 with a 16-yard strike to Roosevelt and found Roosevelt again for nine yards on third-and-four. Willy then threw his third touchdown of the game to fullback Chris Scharon from three yards out. It was Scharon's first touchdown of his career and Willy tied his career high with three touchdown passes.

The Zips rallied behind a 41-yard kickoff return by Andre Jones. However, the Bulls' defense stiffened and on third-and-one, senior linebacker Kareem Byrom threw Williams for a two-yard loss and the Bulls forced an incompletion on fourth down.

The Bulls added their final points of the day on a 35-yard field goal by Principe after stopping Akron on fourth down yet again.

The stars were plenty for the Bulls. Starks finished with 91 yards on 24 carries. Roosevelt had 34 yards receiving and 39 yards rushing in the game, while Rack finished with three catches for 48 yards.

Defensively, Davonte Shannon again led the Bulls' defense with 13 tackles, while Newton had nine tackles and an interception. Byrom added eight tackles, a pass breakup, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery, while Cook had seven tackles and a breakup. On the edges, Scott and Hutchinson stood out again. Hutchinson had six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, while Scott had six tackles, a sack and three quarterback hurries.

UB will travel to Oxford, Ohio, this weekend for a game with the Miami RedHawks.

Volleyball

Kent State 3, UB 0
Ohio 3, UB 0

UB continued its five-match road trip with a 3-0 defeat at Kent State University, Friday night at the MAC Center. The Bulls had their chance again, especially in game three when the score was tied on 18 different occasions. The Bulls had a 24-23 advantage in the third game before Kent State went on a 7-1 run to close out the night.

The Golden Flashes took the match, 30-21, 30-20, 30-25 as they hit .307, compared to just .186 for the Bulls. Freshman Richelle Bigelow led the way for the Bulls with 15 kills, eight digs and one solo block. Sophomore Maria Mezzadri had seven kills and just one error on 19 total swings, while freshman Kristin Bignell also was extremely efficient with six kills and just one error. Freshman Lindsey Schlegel had 29 assists and was one of three UB players to record double-digit digs with 14. Senior Lizaiha Garcia led the way with 16 digs, while junior Claudia Neba added 11 digs and six kills on the night.

On Saturday, UB traveled to nationally ranked Ohio and fell to the host Bobcats, 3-0, at the Convocation Center.

Ohio took the match, 30-21, 30-16, 30-12, as the Bobcats outhit UB .396 to .000. Neba led the way for the Bulls with seven kills and Bigelow had six kills and a team-high seven digs, while also recording three of UB's four service aces on the night. Schlegel had 19 assists in the contest.

UB has one more regular season match on the road as the Bulls travel to Akron tomorrow. The Bulls defeated the Zips earlier this season in Buffalo by a score of 3-1.

Soccer

MEN'S

Akron 1, UB 0

UB lost a match, 1-0, to nationally ranked Akron on Friday night in UB Stadium. Matt Tutich scored the game's only goal for the Zips in the 51st minute.

UB (9-4-2) and Akron battled each other, as well as the elements, for 90 minutes as a steady rain fell throughout the contest. At the half, Akron led in shots on goal, 7-3.

The Zips scored the only goal of the match 5:46 into the second half when a shot by Tutich followed up an initial effort by Steve Zakuni and found the back of the net. Zakuni's shot was stopped by Bulls' goalkeeper Daniel Bell, but Bell was unable to corral the rebound in the wet conditions and Tutich pounced on the rebound to give Akron the lead.

UB fought for the remaining 40 minutes of the match, but was unable to penetrate the Akron backline.

The Bulls will play their final MAC match Saturday when they host Hartwick at 1 p.m. in UB Stadium.

WOMEN'S

UB 1, Ball State 0
Miami (OH) 2, UB 1

UB notched a sensational 1-0 victory over the Ball State Cardinals on Friday in UB Stadium, but lost a close one to Miami University, 2-1, on Sunday.

The Bulls used an early first-half goal off the foot of sophomore Caitlin Higgins to score the MAC win over Ball State, a team that entered the match undefeated in the MAC and ranked No. 14 in the Great Lakes Region, according to SoccerBuzz.com.

After Higgins scored her third goal of the season at the 5:30 mark, the Bulls played solid defense for the next 85 minutes, as a young group of Bulls defenders lead by Nikki Wilson, Mandi Courteau, Martina Pettenuzzo, Kristen Bailey, Jennifer Mihok and Courtney MacVie made a handful of important stops against a potent Ball State offense. UB also successfully prevented BSU from converting on its 10 corner kick opportunities, including seven in the second half.

In Sunday's match against Miami, the Bulls and the RedHawks played nearly 75 minutes of scoreless soccer, but Miami's pair of second-half goals in the last 20 minutes of regulation proved to be too much ground for UB to make up.

Pettenuzzo sparked the Bulls' comeback, scoring the first goal of her career in the 86th minute on a header, deflected off the body of Amy Vescio.

UB will return to action at 6 p.m. today for its last regular-season home game against Kent State.

Cross Country

Veith earns All-MAC honors for second straight year

The UB women, paced by an All-MAC finish by junior Mary Veith, placed 10th among 12 schools at the MAC 2007 Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The UB men finished seventh in a nine-team field.

Veith had a strong race for the Bulls, finishing third among 104 runners representing all 12 MAC women's programs. Veith turned in a 5K time of 17:48.6, just three seconds off her personal-best mark set two weeks ago at the Bowling Green Falcon Invite in preparation for Saturday's race. Veith earned her second-straight spot on the All-MAC first team. She finished second at last year's MAC Championships, hosted by UB in muddy conditions. The top seven finishers earn first-team All-MAC honors, while the next seven finishers are placed on the second team.

Sophomore Nicole Soblosky finished 15th overall, just missing out on the second-team honors. Soblosky completed the course in 18:16.8, just eight-tenths of a second behind the 14th-place runner and final All-MAC honoree, Ohio's Julia Weisenborn.

Rounding out UB's scoring runners were Jessica Schultz in 71st place in 19:39.0, Megan Niblock in 79th place in 19:56.5 and Amy Trumpfheller in 88th place in 20:17.0.

In the men's meet, senior Dan Giza was UB's top finisher, completing the 8K course in 25:49.8 to place 26th overall among 76 runners from the nine MAC men's teams.

Freshman Ryan Bloom was UB's second male finisher in 26:06.7 for 34th place. Jason Ayr placed 39th in 26:25.9, Jesse was 44th in 26:38.1, Scott Dickover placed 49th in 26:51.3, while Dan Healy finished 50th in 26:57.4.

The Bulls will travel to Boston for the NCAA's Northeast Regional meet on Nov. 10.

Tennis

MEN'S

Singh Panthlia wins Cornell Fall Invite title

UB picked up a singles title on Sunday as play concluded at the Cornell Indoor Fall Invitational. There was no team scoring at the three-day tournament that included 10 teams.

Nikesh Singh Panthlia won the "B" flight singles championship, defeating teammate Marcelo Mazzetto, 6-1, 6-4. Singh Panthlia paired with Kirill Kolomytes in doubles competition, but fell in the "A" flight double championships.

Singh Panthlia rolled through the "B" flight with four wins. All three of his wins prior to the championship match came in three-set thrillers including a pair of third-set tiebreakers in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds after dropping the first set in both matches. Singh Panthlia defeated Cornell's Bryan Yung, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in the quarters to set up a semifinal showdown with Andy Gauthier, also of Cornell. In the match against Gauthier, Singh Panthlia scored a near-identical win with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) decision to move into the finals.

Mazzetto worked his way up from the bottom of the "B" flight bracket with three wins. In his opener, Mazzetto downed Cornell's Weston Nichols in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. In the quarterfinal round, he knocked off Colgate's Phil Bernasek in straight sets, 7-5, 6-0, and rolled into the finals showdown with Singh Panthlia by virtue of a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Duquesne's Mark Maciuch in the semifinals.

Singh Panthlia and Kolomytes reached the "A" flight doubles championship with an 8-4 win over Duquesne's Alex Mast and Maciuch in the semifinal round. The UB pair fell in the championship match to Concordia's Alex Grubin and Rodrigo Teixeira, 8-5. Like their Concordia opponents, the UB duo needed an extra match in the doubles bracket to reach the finals as they opened with an 8-4 win over Army's Trip Johnson and Jordan Gridley in a play-in match. Singh Panthlia and Kolomytes then scored an 8-4 win over Mirza Klis and Gauthier of Cornell in round of 16 and an 8-6 victory over Colgate's Martin MacIntyre and Tyler Deck in the quarterfinals.

Kolomytes played in the "A" flight of singles play, scoring wins in the consolation round after falling in his opening match and taking the backdraw title. In the consolation round, he downed Sean Harris of Army, 9-7, and knocked off Colgate's John Nogueras in the consolation semifinals. Kolomytes won the consolation title by default over Matt Gordon of Fairleigh Dickinson.

Alexis Lluis also worked his way through the consolation bracket of the "C" flight after falling in his opening match. Lluis defeated Colgate's Mike Shea, 8-1, but fell to Army's John Lucero, 8-6, in the semifinal round.

In the "D" flight, Eric Rothstein scored a first-round win over Jamie Pellechi of Colgate in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, before falling to Army's Josh Krieter in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-2. Also in the "D" flight, Ezra Bernstein lost his opening match, 6-2, 6-3, to Colgate's Reid Kiyabu. There was no consolation play in the "D" flight.

The Bulls dropped both of their "B" flight doubles openers. Rothstein and Bernstein lost to Marist's Antonio Oliver and Jack Famiglio, 8-4. Mazzetto and Lluis fell to Kirill Azovtsev and Nik Boerger of Concordia, 8-3.