Bengal Beat Volume 12, Issue 11

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Recapping events from Monday, November 3 - Sunday, November 9

CROSS COUNTRY – Cross Country Competes at NYSCTC Championships

Buffalo State's cross country teams competed at the NYSCTC Championships Saturday at Saratoga State Park, with the women placing 11th of 15 teams while the men finished 12th of 15.

Jenny Vacanti (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield) was the top finisher on the women's side as she placed 38th of 135 with a time of 19:34 over the 5k course. Aleksandra Halin (Clarence/Clarence) was the next Bengal finisher as she placed 46th in 19:46.

On the men's side, AJ Walsh (Hamburg/Frontier) paced the Bengals, placing 28th of 133 in 27:06 on the 8k track. Matt Kubiak (Lakeview/Frontier) finished right on Walsh's heals placing 29th in 27:07.

FOOTBALL (1-8) – Football Falls to Ithaca, 40-14

Jeff Welch had six catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns as he led Ithaca (8-1) to a 40-14 victory over host Buffalo State (1-8) on Saturday at Coyer Field.

Ithaca drove 67 yards on four plays on its first possession, capped off by a 42-yard touchdown strike from Josh Felicetti to Welch. The Bengals answered on the ensuing drive with their own four-play drive covering 70 yards, 63 of them coming on the legs of Curtis Hathcock (Buffalo/Bennett), including a 2-yard touchdown run. The Bombers regained the lead just over four minutes later when Pete Celebre scored from one-yard out to culminate a 11-play, 69 yard drive.

Ithaca regained possession of the ball just two plays later when it recovered a fumble on a poor exchange. The Bombers took just one play to extend their lead to 21-7 when Felicetti found Welch for a 35-yard touchdown. Buffalo State forced Ithaca to punt from its own end zone on the final play of the first quarter and after a bad snap and scrambling punt, the Bengals took over on the Ithaca five yard line. The Bengals pulled back into the game just two plays later and five seconds into the second quarter when Patrick Moore (Leicester/York Central) plunged across the goal line from two yards out to close the deficit to 21-14.

Ithaca needed just three plays to find the end zone again when Felicetti found Welch for his third score of the day from 67 yards out. Felicetti threw his fourth touchdown of the day on the next Ithaca drive as he connected with Mike Oertel from 40 yards. Brett Kitenplon completed the first half scoring when he connected on a 37-yard field goal to extend the Bombers lead to 37-14. Kitenplon accounted for all of the second half scoring as he booted a 38-yarder early in the fourth quarter.

Felicetti was 17-for-26 for 332 with four touchdowns and one interception. Celebre carried the ball 16 times for 117 yards. Robert Truman led the Bombers’ defense with 11 tackles, including two sacks and recovered a fumble.

Buffalo State tailback Curtis Hathcock became the first Bengal to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 1996, carrying the ball 24 times for 154 yards, bringing his season total to 1,009. Mike Mikolaichik (Hilton/Hilton) was 17-for-30 for 137 yards, and Marc Hoppy (Lancaster/Depew) had 10 catches for 90 yards. Nick Warren (Cheektowaga/West Seneca East) and Hank Pirowski (Lackawanna/Lackawanna) led the Bengals’ defense with 12 and 11 tackles respectively.

MEN’S HOCKEY (1-5) – Bengals Drop Both In SUNYAC Opening Weekend

Buffalo State fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the SUNYAC with a pair of losses last weekend.

On Friday, Buffalo State opened up a 2-0 lead, but Plattsburgh proved to be too much as the Cardinals skated to a 7-2 victory at Stafford Arena on Friday night.

Matt Davis (Candia, NH/St. Thomas More) got the Bengals on the board early with an assist from Brian Janke (Anchorage, AK/Buffalo Lightning) just 1:01 into the game. Mark Yoder (Ft. Wayne, IN/Grand Rapids) extended the Bengals lead atalty shot. Plattsburgh tallied its first goal of the game at 9:02, and then evened the score late in the first period. From there, the Cardinals poured it on, scoring two in the second and three more in the final frame. Buffalo State was outshot in the contest by a 46-17 margin. Adam Horvath made 39 saves for the Bengals.

Buffalo State fell 5-1 at Potsdam on Saturday in a game that saw the two teams combine for 28 penalties.

Potsdam took a 3-0 lead 3:23 into the second period before Mark Yoder scored from Mike DeMarco (Niagara Falls/Ft. Erie Meteors) and Matt Stankevich (Spokane, WA/Suffolk PAL) midway through the game to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Bears would answer less than a minute later, however, and added another goal late in the period to take a 5-1 lead into the final stanza. Neither team was able to score in the final 20 minutes, as the Bears skated away with the win.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY (1-3) – Bengals Fall Short In Pair Against Plattsburgh

Buffalo State opened their conference schedule with a pair of losses to Plattsburgh at home last weekend.

Buffalo State fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the ECAC West Saturday with a 2-1 loss at home to Plattsburgh.

After a scoreless first period the Bengals captured the lead in the second with a powerplay goal from senior Janelle Schmitt (Arlington, WA/Northwest Admirals). Senior Jen Downey (Freeville/Ithaca Stars) and freshman Courtney Wagner (Connellsville, PA) assisted on Schmitt’s score. The third period began with the Bengals up 1-0, but the Cardinal attack proved to be too much. Lindsay McCafferty tied the game 39 seconds into the final frame, and Erin O’Brien drove home the game winner with just under 12 minutes to play. Senior Mary Keddie (Williamsville/Buffalo Bisons) had a solid performance between the pipes for the Bengals stopping 44 shots.

Buffalo State fell to 1-3 on the season and 0-2 in ECAC West play today as it dropped an 8-0 decision to Plattsburgh at the Ice Arena.

The Cardinals scored three in the first, two in the second, and added three more in the third to cruise to the eight-goal victory. Mary Keddie stopped 39 shots and allowed five goals in two periods of work, and Chrissy Michalek (W. Seneca/Buffalo Saints) made 11 stops while allowing three goals in relief.

SWIMMING AND DIVING (0-2-0) – Penn State Behrend Defeats Swimming & Diving

Buffalo State opened their home schedule on Friday with a pair of losses to Penn State Behrend. The men lost by a score of 107-101 while the women fell one point short of a victory losing 91-90. Both teams’ records stand at 0-2.

Freshman Derek Stocklosa (W. Seneca/W. Seneca West) won the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.55 and placed second in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:59.06. Sophomore Richard Gaczewski (N. Tonawanda/N. Tonawanda) captured the men’s 100 yard fly with a mark of 59.41. Gaczewski also placed second in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:27.17.

On the women’s side, junior Marie Ryer (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) won the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 26.81. Ryer was also part of a team that won both the 200 yard medley relay and the 200 yard freestyle relay. Freshman Mindy Wood (Middlesex/Marcus Whitman) had a pair of second place finishes for the Bengals. Wood registered a time of 20:18.71 in the 1650 yard freestyle and a mark of 5:55.16 in the 500 yard freestyle.

Media Contact:
Jeffrey Ventura, Interim Sports Information Director | 7168786030 | venturjm@buffalostate.edu