Women's Soccer Opens Season With Win for First Time Since 1993; Rocky Start for Volleyball Team; Football, Cross Country and Men's Soccer to Open this Week; Tennis to Follow

WOMEN'S SOCCER (1-0) - Bengals Start with Win for First Time Since 1993

Buffalo State opened its 2002 season on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Hilbert College, at the West Seneca Soccer Complex.

Leading the way for the Bengals was freshman Gina Monaco (Niagara Falls/Niagara Falls) who tallied two second half goals. Amy Drozen (Willamsville/Willamsville East) recorded an assist on the first Bengal goal, while Kim Nogle (Tonawanda/Tonawanda) assisted on the second. Monaco and Drozen also led the team with ten shots each. Goalies Erin Strassburg (N. Tonawanda/N. Tonawanda) and Nastassja Dasque (Brooklyn/ A. Philip Randolph) split time in the nets, recording four saves each, and preserving the shutout. With this win Buffalo State moves to 1-0-0 in non-conference play.

Who's Next?

The Bengals return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday night with a game at St. John Fisher College, and remain on the road this coming weekend at the Fredonia Invitational.

Winning Early

Buffalo State Head Coach Nicholas DeMarsh kicked off his career 1-0, guiding the Bengals to their first opening day victory since a 4-0 win over the same Hilbert opponent in 1993.



VOLLEYBALL (0-3) - Rocky Start at Franklin and Marshall Invitational

Buffalo State opened the 2002 season with high expectations on Saturday at the Franklin and Marshall Invitational in Lancaster, PA, with three tough losses. After posting the second-best season in school history a year ago, the Bengals were grounded with losses to Franklin and Marshall, Salisbury State and Susquehanna.

Buffalo State faced the host school in the opening match, and fell 3-1 by scores of 27-30, 30-22, 18-30 and 24-30. Senior Monica Polka (Youngstown/Lew-Port) started where she left off in 2001 with 14 kills, five digs and five blocks. Junior Krista Wierzbicki (Cheektowaga/Maryvale) had 25 assists and three aces and Denise Jedynak (Hamburg/Frontier) added 11 digs.

Salisbury State needed five games to slip past the Bengals in the second match, winning 26-30, 31-29, 30-28, 17-30 and 15-13. Polka led the way again with 21 kills, 11 digs and seven aces, and Wierzbicki recorded 34 assists and six digs. Senior Lisa Herrscher (Clarence/Clarence) added 12 digs and six blocks.

In the final match, the Bengals pushed Susquehanna to the limit, but fell again, 26-30, 30-20, 30-19, 24-30 and 12-15. Polka pounded 19 kills, Vicky Manos (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) scored 13 kills, 15 digs, and five aces, and Herrscher chipped in seven kills and 14 digs.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will look to get into the win column on its home court on Tuesday night when it plays host to Hilbert at 7 p.m. The Bengals will travel to the Cortland Red Dragon Classic on Friday at Saturday.



Football, Cross Country and Men's Soccer to Open this Week; Tennis to Follow

Buffalo State fall sports will get into full swing this week, as three other teams will open their 2002 schedules. The football squad will travel to Division I-AA Robert Morris on Saturday, men's soccer will play at D'Youville on Tuesday and travel to the Blue Marlin Adidas Classic on Saturday and Sunday at Virginia Wesleyan, and cross country will host the Daniel Walker Memorial Invitational at Beaver Island State Park. Tennis will open its season next Tuesday (September 10) at home against Fredonia.