Recapping events from Monday, November 4 - Sunday, November 10, 2002

WOMEN'S HOCKEY (3-6-0, 2-2) - Buffalo State Wins Weekend a Pair

Buffalo State played three games this week, falling to RIT 5-1, before winning a pair of games against Chatham at home on the weekend.

Wednesday night in Rochester, Emma Wadsworth (Arlington, VA/Reston Raiders) scored her first goal of the year, which turned out to be the Bengals lone goal of the evening. Mary Keddie (Willamsville/Buffalo Bisons) made 40 saves for the Bengals in the 5-1 loss at the hands of RIT.

Saturday, the Chatham Cougars came to the Buffalo Ice arena, and were dominated by the Bengals. Buffalo State recorded 46 shots on goal en route to the 5-1 victory. Wadsworth led the way for the Bengals, recording one goal and two assists in the game. Janelle Schmitt (Arlington, WA/Northwest Admirals), Maddy Loftus (Parsippany, NJ/Pittsburgh Firebirds), Kim Costanzo (Cheektowaga/Buffalo Bisons) and Jenifer Downey (Freeville/Ithaca Stars) each scored for the Bengals in the victory.

On Sunday afternoon Buffalo State continued its winning ways, as they once again defeated the Chatham Cougars, 6-1. Schmitt put the Bengals out to the early lead, scoring the game's first two goals, only 12 seconds apart. After Chatham scored halfway through the period, Buffalo State scored twice in the last four minutes of the first, to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the locker room after one. Wadsworth, and Tara Ostempowski (Lancaster/Buffalo Bisons) scored the late goals for the Bengals. Only one goal was scored in the second period, off the stick of Ostempowski, who finished the day with a career-high four points on two goals and two assists. Loftus put the game out of reach, scoring with only four minutes left in the game, and sealing the 6-1 victory up for Buffalo State.

With the two wins this weekend, the Bengals are now 3-6 overall, and 2-2 in ECAC West play.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will host a pair of ECAC West game this weekend at the Ice Arena, against Utica College.

FOOTBALL (1-8) - Bengals Have One Game Remaining on 2002 Docket

Freshman quarterback Jeff Shostak (E. Smethport, PA/Smethport) threw for a career-high 192 yards, but Buffalo State (1-8) could not overcome minus-3 yards of rushing as it was topped by host Ithaca (7-1) 39-7.

Ithaca got on the scoreboard first, but after a missed extra point, led just 6-0. The Bengals answered with 52 seconds remaining in the opening quarter on a 3-yard run by Curtis Hathcock (Buffalo/Bennett). The extra-point gave the Bengals a 7-6 lead. The Bombers would take the lead for good on the next possession, however, with a 13-play drive for 71 yards that used 5:36. Then, the Bombers extended their lead to 24-7 with a 36-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

Ithaca was not finished as it struck again on the first play of the second half with a 90-yard kick return for a touchdown. The Bombers would add another field goal and a touchdown to complete the scoring.

Bobby Ballard (Buffalo/McKinley) led the Bengals' receivers with six catches and 106 yards, and HT Williams (Syracuse/Christian Bros.) had another strong showing with four catches for 67 yards. Sophomore linebacker Nick Warren (Cheektowaga/West Seneca East) led Buffalo State's defense with 14 tackles (two for loss) and a pair of pass break-ups. Senior linebacker Dave Chelus (West Seneca/West Seneca East) and senior defensive lineman Star Handley (Williamsville/Tonawanda) added 13 and 10 tackles, respectively.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will play its final game of the season this Saturday at 1 p.m. when it welcomes Washington & Jefferson to Coyer Field.

CROSS COUNTRY - Teams Run at NYSCTC Championships

Buffalo competed at the NYSCTC Championships on Saturday, at Oswego. The men finished in 10th place of 14 teams with 256 points, while the women placed ninth out of 15 teams with 228 points.

AJ Walsh (Hamburg/Frontier) highlighted the men's side as he placed 19th out of 128 runners with a time of 26:40. Michael Herron (West Seneca/West Seneca East) crossed the finish line in 26:58, good for 30th place. Tim Hill (Lyndonville/Barker Central) and Matt Kubiak (Lakeview/Frontier) finished in 28:15 and 28:31 respectively, placing 60th and 71st overall respectively.

Freshman Tammy Putt (Allegany/Allegany) was the top finisher on the women's side, placing 33rd out of 132 runners, with a time of 20:13. Alexsandra Halin (Clarence/Clarence) and Tiffany Knarr (East Aurora/ Iroquois) crossed the finish line only one second apart, with times of 20:26 and 20:27, to place 40th and 41st respectively.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will travel to the College of New Jersey on Saturday, and compete in the NCAA Regionals.

VOLLEYBALL (23-12/5-3) - Volleyball Falls in SUNYAC Quarterfinals

Buffalo State traveled to SUNY Brockport on Friday to meet Cortland in the SUNYAC Quarterfinals with hopes of claiming the school's first-ever conference title, but was eliminated in three hard-fought games.

Cortland defeated the Bengals 32-30, 31-29 and 31-29, ending the Bengals season at 23-12. Vicky Manos (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) led the Bengals offense with 12 kills and also recorded 11 digs and four aces. Lisa Herrscher (Clarence/Clarence) added eight kills, six aces and six digs, and Krista Wierzbicki (Cheektowaga/Maryvale) chipped in 11 digs and 31 assists.

Farewell?

Three Buffalo State seniors played in their final match on Saturday. Monica Polka (Youngstown/Lewiston-Porter) ended her career as Buffalo State's all-time leader in attacks (4,457), kills (1,981), attack percentage (.258), blocks (750) and aces (203). Herrscher's career was split between spending time as a setter and as an outside hitter. She finished with 1,498 assists and 577 kills. Katie Sansone (Tonawanda/Tonawanda) also concluded her four-year career as a defensive specialist. She finished with 581 digs.

Honors?

Two Buffalo State players earned SUNYAC honors. For the second-straight season, Polka was selected as the SUNYAC West Player of the Year. She finished the season with 588 kills, 140 blocks and 57 aces. Wierzbicki was named to the honorable mention team, after becoming just the second Bengal to surpass the 1,000 assist mark as she totalled 1,110. She also had 70 aces and 306 digs.

MEN'S HOCKEY (1-4-1/0-2) - Bengals Sputter in SUNYAC Weekend

Buffalo State opened the SUNYAC portion of its schedule with a pair of deflating losses as it aims to return to the playoffs after making its first appearance last season.

On Friday, the Bengals hosted the team that eliminated them form last year's postseason, Cortland, and was dealt a similar fate as the Red Dragons skated to a 5-1 victory. Cortland took a 3-0 lead by the close of the second period despite the Bengals holding a 24-21 advantage in shots on goal. Mark Yoder (Ft. Wayne, IN/Grand Rapids) finally got Buffalo State on the scoreboard 5:12 into the third period with assists from Morgan McElman (Bayside, NB/Elmira) and Mark Infantino (Buffalo/St. Catherines). Cortland would answer just 2:39 later, however, and would ice the game with another goal with 9:11 to play. Buffalo State out-shot the Red Dragons 35-30.

On Saturday, the Bengals never knew what hit them, as Oswego rolled in and lit the lamp five times in the opening period on just 10 shots, en route to an 11-3 win. After falling behind 6-0 early in the second period, Buffalo State's Greg Prybylski (Cheektowaga/Capital Centre) and Yoder each tallied power-play goals to get the Bengals back in the game. Oswego continued to pour it on, as it added another goal in the second period, and four more in the final frame. John Sawyer (Geneseo/SUNY-Morrisville) scored his first career goal for the Bengals after the score was out of reach.

Buffalo State is now 1-4-1 overall and 0-2 to begin SUNYAC play.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will look to even its conference this record this weekend as it will travel to Brockport on Friday and Geneseo on Saturday.

SWIMMING & DIVING - Women Fall to Canisius; Teams Swim Oswego Relays

Buffalo State's women were defeated on Wednesday against Canisius before both teams traveled to the Oswego Sprint Relays.

Canisius defeated the Bengals 144-87 at Kissinger pool in a women's dual meet on Wednesday. Leigh Ann Holland (Rochester/Greece Athena) was victorious in the 1,000 free with a time of 12:02.40. Freshman Ashley Myers (E. Berlin, PA/Bermudian Springs) took first in the 100 back in 1:06.33, and Susanna Lehman (Alexander/Alexander) earned victory in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 174.80. The loss dropped the women to 0-3 on the season.

On Saturday, both teams were in action at the Oswego Sprint Relays, as the men placed sixth of seven teams with 39 points, and the women finished seventh of eight with 37 points.

Who's Next?

Both teams will be back in action this Saturday when they visit Penn State Behrend for a 1 p.m. meet.