Recapping events from Monday, October 7 - Sunday, October 13, 2002

VOLLEYBALL (16-8/2-2) - Volleyball Extends Winning Streak to Five Matches

Buffalo State won all four of its matches this past week, including three wins en route to the Bengals' second-straight championship at the Hiram (OH) Extreme Pizza Invitational.

Buffalo State closed out its regular season home schedule on Tuesday night against University of Rochester, winning 30-16, 32-30 and 31-29. Vicky Manos (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) led the Bengals offense with 14 kills and also added 10 digs. Krista Wierzbicki (Cheektowaga/Maryvale) continued her strong play, posting 31 assists and 15 digs, and Lisa Herrscher (Clarence/Clarence) had 11 kills, six digs and three aces.

Buffalo State faced cross-town rival Medaille to open the Hiram Invitational on Friday, and made quick work of the Mavericks, 30-20, 30-26 and 30-21. Monica Polka (Youngstown/Lewiston-Porter) led the Bengals attack with 14 kills, while Herrscher added nine kills and 13 digs. Manos chipped in 14 digs.

The Bengals continued to roll on Saturday, breezing past Pitt-Bradford 30-24, 30-26 and 30-23. Polka was dominant with 22 kills and nine digs, while Herrscher continued to excel with eight kills and 14 digs. Wierzbicki added 39 assists and eight digs and Manos tallied eight kills and 11 digs.

Buffalo State notched its fifth consecutive victory in the tournament's deciding match, defeating the host school Hiram 25-30, 30-22, 30-25 and 30-21. Polka delivered again with 22 kills, seven digs and seven blocks. Herrscher added 12 kills, 16 digs and six blocks, and Wierzbicki had 36 assists and 12 digs.

Buffalo State is now 16-8 on the season.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will play at Penn State Behrend on Wednesday before travelling to the Rowan Invitational this Saturday.

Honor Roll?

Buffalo State won the Hiram Invitational for the second-straight season, and Monica Polka (Youngstown/Lewiston-Porter) was named the tourney's Most Valuable Player. Vicky Manos (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Home Again?

Buffalo State concluded its regular season home schedule this past Tuesday, but is still holding out hope to play in the Sports Arena again this season. If Buffalo State can post a 4-0 mark in the second round of SUNYAC Pool Play (October 25-26), it could finish first in the West Division and earn the right to host the SUNYAC Championships.

FOOTBALL (0-6) - Third-Ranked Rowan Downs Buffalo State

Buffalo State struck first against the #3 ranked team in the nation, but Rowan stormed back with 28 unanswered points to improve to 6-0 on a 28-7 victory. The Bengals fell to 0-6 on the season.

Buffalo State forced the Profs to punt on the opening series, and then drove the ball 77 yards on 14 plays, using 7:55, capped off by a Jeff Shostak (E. Smethport, PA/Smethport) 10-yard touchdown run. Eric Buchanan's (Hamburg/Frontier) extra point gave the Bengals a 7-0 lead. Rowan found the endzone for the first time at 6:14 of the second quarter when Patrick Thompson's 32-yard run set up a Creg Bethea 20-yard scoring scamper. After a missed point-after-attempt, the score was 7-6 in favor of Buffalo State. Rowan took the lead for good on its next possession when Jon Berry reeled in a 21-yard pass in the endzone from Tony Racioppi, giving Rowan a 13-7 lead.

The Profs turned the tables on the Bengals in the second half, forcing Buffalo State to punt on its first possession, and drove 84 yards on six plays to put seven more points on the board. Racioppi hit Michael Osborne on an 18-yard touchdown strike, and a Racioppi rush for the two-point conversion made the score 21-7. Tyree Jackson added a score a two-yard reception from Racioppi on the final play of the third quarter, and Nick Frade's extra-point made the score 28-7. Both teams struggled to move the ball in the final stanza as the game would finish with posting a 21-point victory.

Racioppi led the Profs throwing 20-for-30 for 259 yards and three touchdowns. Berry had three catches for 80 yards, Osborne had seven grabs for 77 yards, and Joe D'Imperio caught four passes for 63 yards. Nick Lopez led the Rowan defense with nine tackles including six solo stops.

Curtis Hathcock (Buffalo/Bennett) led the Bengals offensive attack with 147 yards on 22 carries in his first start at tailback, and added 80 yards on three kick returns. Sterling Anderson (Detroit, MI/MLK) added 58 yards on 15 carries, and Nick Warren (Cheektowaga/West Seneca East) led the Bengals' defense with 12 tackles including two for loss.

Who?s Next?

Buffalo State will get a much needed bye week this Saturday, before preparing to host Montclair State on October 26. Kickoff will be 1 p.m.

CROSS COUNTRY - Men and Women Compete at Hamilton Invite

Buffalo State competed in its sixth meet of the season Saturday at the Hamilton Invitational Invitational.

The men finished seventh out of 16 teams with 166 points, and had three runners finish in the top-25. For the fourth time this season, AJ Walsh (Hamburg/Frontier) was the top finisher for the Bengals with a time of 27:05, which was good for ninth place overall. Finishing in 19th place overall was the Bengals Mike Herron (West Seneca/West Seneca East) with a time of 27:34, and finishing in 25th place overall with a time of 27:48 was Matt Kubiak (Lakeview/Frontier).

The women finished seventh out of 15 teams with 193 points. For the second week in a row, freshman Tammy Putt (Allegany/Allegany) was the Bengals top finisher, placing 25th with a time of 19:36. Tiffany Knarr (East Aurora/Iroquois) and Aleksandra Halin (Clarence/Clarence) finished 29th and 34th respectively with times of 19:42 and 19:52.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will not compete this coming weekend, but will return to action on October 26th at Fredonia for the SUNYAC Championships.

WOMEN'S SOCCER (4-10, 2-4) - Bengals Split Pair of SUNYAC Games

Buffalo State played three games this week. On Tuesday night the Bengals traveled to Roberts Wesleyan and lost 6-1 under the lights, before splitting a pair of SUNYAC games at home on the weekend.

At Roberts Wesleyan, freshman Gina Monaco (Niagara Falls/Niagara Falls) scored for the lone goal for the Bengals, her 11th of the season. Amy Drozen (Willamsville/Willamsvile East) had the lone assist. With that assist, Drozen tied Jacinta Ferary (1984) for the school record for assists in a season with nine.

Friday at Coyer Field, the Bengals played host to the Potsdam Bears. Buffalo State opened the scoring just 11 minutes into the game. Monaco scored her 12th goal of the season off a nice lead pass from Nikole Flannery (Tonawanda/Tonawanda). Potsdam answered in the 27th minute to tie the score at 1-1. The score remained until the 70th minute when junior Lindsay Cashmore (Clarence/Clarence) scored the eventual game winner on a blast from 25 yards out. Monaco then put the icing on the cake and scored her 13th goal of the season, assisted by Penny Burg (S. Whales/Iriquois). With that goal, Monaco also tied the single season mark set by Valerie Krell in 1983. With the win the Bengals improved their overall record to 4-9, and 2-4 in SUNYAC play.

Saturday, Buffalo State hosted Plattsburgh and was shut-out 2-0. Goaltender Nastassia Dasque (Brooklyn/A. Philip Randolph) made 12 saves in the game. With this loss the Benglas drop to 4-10 overall, and 2-5 in SUNYAC play.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will play its final home game of the season on Tuesday against D'Youville College at 4 p.m. at Coyer Field. The Bengals will then travel to Oswego on Friday and Cortland on Saturday with game times of 3p.m. and 1p.m. respectively.

MEN'S SOCCER (4-8-1, 2-4) Bengals Drop Two SUNYAC Road Games

Buffalo State played two SUNYAC games this weekend on the road, and lost them both.

On Friday the Bengals traveled to Potsdam and were defeated by the Bears 1-0. Senior Dave Aselin (Rochester/Gates-Chili) recorded two of Buffalo State's three shots on goal. The Bengals were unable to put any shots behind the Potsdam goalkeeper, and in the 87th minute the Bears scored the games lone goal to hand the Bengals their seventh loss of the season.

On Saturday Buffalo State played at Plattsburgh, the #12 ranked team in the nation, and were shut-out for the second day in a row, 4-0. Aselin and Tom Huebsch (Buffalo/St. Joes) each recorded two shots in the loss.

The Bengals fell to 4-8-1 overall and 2-4 in SUNYAC competition.

Who's Next?

Buffalo State will play three games this week starting on the road Tuesday at University of Pitt.-Bradford. Game time is 3p.m. The Bengals then return home for two SUNYAC games, Friday against Oswego, and Saturday against Cortland. Both games are at Coyer Field, with start times of 3 p.m. and 1p.m. respectively.

Narrow Defeats?

Three of Buffalo State's four SUNYAC losses have been by 1-0 scores.

TENNIS - (1-10) Bengals Share Eighth Place at SUNYAC Championships

Buffalo State wrapped up its regular season on Tuesday with a 9-0 home loss against St. John Fisher. On the weekend, the Bengals traveled to Syracuse for the SUNYAC Championships, and placed in a tie for eighth with Oswego out of 10 teams.

Molly Macpherson (Clarence/Clarence) won in the first round at third singles over an Oswego player 5-7, 6-3 and 6-4, picking up Buffalo State's only point. She fell in the quarterfinals against Cortland 0-6, 2-6.