Recapping events from Monday, October 20 - Sunday, October 27

MEN’S SOCCER – Bengals Finish Season on Winning Note

Buffalo State's hopes of making its first SUNYAC playoff appearance since 1998 were dashed today as it was defeated 3-0 at Fredonia, but defeated Pitt-Bradford on Sunday to end its season.

The Bengals dominated Pitt-Bradford on Sunday by a 12-0 score. Seven different players scored for the Bengals led by junior Brian Miller’s (Tonawanda/Kenmore East) four goals. Matt Romano (Eden/Eden) and Kevin McKenzie (Springfiled/August Martin) each added a pair of goals in the win, while senior Michael Strangio (Youngstown/Lewiston-Porter) registered a goal and two assists for the Bengals. Kevin Senator (Scottsville/Wheatland-Chili), Jared Hulshoff (Lockport/Lockport), and Dennis Behrens (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield) also had goals in the Buffalo State win. Shawn McDonell (West Seneca/West Seneca East) and Dave Grant (Tonawanda/Kenmore East) combined for nine saves in net for the Bengals.

The Bengals finished the season with an overall record of 6-10-2.

WOMEN’S SOCCER – Bengals Lose to Fredonia; Beat Pitt-Bradford

Buffalo State wrapped up its SUNYAC schedule with a 3-0 loss to Fredonia Wednesday at Coyer Field.

The Blue Devils scored two goals less than four minutes apart midway through the first half, and added another early in the second stanza. Fredonia held a 24-7 advantage in shots, as Buffalo State goalkeeper Jessica Bingerman (Great Valley/Ellicottville) made 13 saves. Buffalo State dictated the play from start to finish Sunday as it defeated visiting Pitt-Bradford, 11-0. The rain-soaked game was called after 70 minutes as the Bengals improved 8-9-1.

Gina Monaco (Niagara Falls/Niagara Falls) led the Bengals offense as she tallied three goals. Katie Zariczny (Great Valley/Ellicottville) added a goal and three assists and Laura Jason (Cheektowaga/St. Mary's) had two goals and two assists. Lindsay Cashmore (Clarence/Clarence) chipped in two goals and an assist, and Amanda Cendrowski (Sloan/JFK), Melissa Petre (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga) and Claire Movalli (Lancaster/Lancaster) all added single goals for the Bengals. Buffalo State outshot the Panthers 37-1.

The Bengals will wrap up their season on Wednesday when they host Penn State Behrend at 3:00 p.m.

FOOTBALL – Bengals Come Up Short at Montclair State

Junior running back Eugene Vick (Newark, NJ/Hillside) rushed for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Montclair State held off a furious rally by Buffalo State in the fourth quarter for a 34-26 win at Sprague Field in NCAA Division III action on Saturday afternoon.

John DiGirolamo (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills) threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns as the Red Hawks (6-1) stopped the Bengals at the one-yardline on the final play to preserve their sixth straight win. Curtis Hathcock (Buffalo, NY/Bennett) ran for 141 yards and a touchdown for the Bengals (1-6), who rallied from 34-10 down in the final period, but fell short and now trail the series with MSU, 3-2.

Down 24 points midway through the final period, the Buffalo State quickly closed the gap as Marc Hoppy (Lancaster, NY/Depew) hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass from Mike Mikolaichik (Hilton, NY/Hilton) and Hathcock ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 34-18. MSU recovered the Bengals on-side kick attempt, but could not move the ball and punted giving Buffalo State the ball at its own 20. The Bengals then drove to the MSU44, but Mikolaichik was intercepted by Shaun Murray (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) at the MSU 17. However, MSU was again stymied and forced to punt from its own end zone. Bill Christopher's (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) kick was then blocked and recovered by John Lesure (Rochester, NY/Greece-Athena) for a touchdown. Mikolaichik then hit TJ Cottrell (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville Swo-point conversion cutting the deficit to 34-26 with 1:31 to play.

Things then got worse for Montclair State as BSC's Josh Hostuttler (Little Valley, NY/Salamanca) recovered the on-side kick giving the Bengals, who were out of timeouts, a last opportunity at its own 43. After a sack and incompletion, Mikolaichik hit HT Williams (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers) on a 48-yard pass down to the MSU 14. Hoppy then hauled in an 11-yard pass to the three with 22 seconds left. Hathcock then ran off left tackle to the one. Then with the clock ticking Mikolaichik tried to sneak over for the touchdown, but was met by Montclair's Ray Meyer (Hasbrouck Heights, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights) who made the tackle ending the Buffalo State comeback attempt.

Prior to the comeback effort, MSU held control most of the game as Vick posted his fourth 100-yard game of the year. His 27-yard score in the first gave MSU a 10-0 lead and he later added a 13-yard run in the second put the Red Hawks up 27-10 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Montclair defense came up with a fourth-down stand and the Red Hawks then turned that into a score as DiGirolamo connected with Jasper Hankins (Union, NJ/Union) for the second time in the game, this time on a 33-yard score to give Montclair a 34-10 advantage with 3:37 left in the third.

Hathcock carried 24 times and scored on a 65-yard run late in the second quarter to bring Buffalo State within 20-10 left before halftime. However, MSU responded on the ensuing possession marching 65 yards in six plays, capped off by the Vick 13-yard touchdown.

DiGirolamo completed 14-of-21 passes, incuding five to Hankins, who finished the game with 92 yards. Mikolaichik was 10-of-24 for 186 yards, but was intercepted twice. The Bengals also had another interception when Hathcock's option pass in the second quarter was intercepted by Murray in the end zone. Hoppy had four receptions for 102 yards.

Murray had three pass breakups to go along with two INT's, while Meyer led the MSU defense with eight tackles. Linebackers Brian DiCarlo (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) and John Lennox (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) had seven and five tackles, respectively. Nick Columbo (Sanborn, NY/Starpoint) had seven tackles and three sacks for the Bengals while Michael Holbok (Williamsville, NY/St. Joe's) had two sacks.

MSU outgained Buffalo State 343-333 and held the ball for over 36 minutes in the contest.

CROSS COUNTRY – Bengals Run at SUNYAC Championships

Buffalo State's cross country teams ran at the SUNYAC Championships on Saturday at Oneonta with the men placing seventh of 10 teams with 177 points, while the women finished eighth of 10 with 189 points.

AJ Walsh (Hamburg/Frontier) earned a SUNYAC Medal with an 11th place finish in 27:06 in the 8,000-meter race. Aleksandra Halin (Clarence/Clarence) was the top-finisher on the women's side as she finished 22nd with a time of 25:14 over the 6,000-meter course.

SWIMMING & DIVING – Bengals Open Season at Geneseo

Buffalo State opened its season at Geneseo on Saturday with the men losing 113-70 and the women falling 109-72. Derek Stoklosa (West Seneca/West Seneca West) was the only event winner on either side as he finished first in the 100-Free in 52.69.

MEN’S HOCKEY – Bengals Start with Two Losses

In the Bengals opening game on Friday, Potsdam (1-0) came from behind to beat Buffalo State (0-1) 4-3. Bears forward Ryan Mattison (West Chester, PA) put his team up by one with a shot that beat Bengal goalie Adam Horvath (Coplay, PA). The Bengals would come clawing back and grab a two goal lead in the second with goals from Morgan McElman (Bayside, NB) and Mike DeMarco (Niagara Falls). Potsdam scored three consecutive goals in the third frame, including the game-winner from freshman Myles Palliser (Lake Cowichan, BC). Chris Lee (MacTier, ONT) and Greg Lee (Almonte ONT) tallied the other goals for the Bears. Sophomore Brian Janke (Anchorage, AK) scored the Bengal’s final goal with 42 seconds left in the game. Buffalo State pulled Horvath after a timeout but the Bengals fell short. Vince Cuccaro (Ottawa, ONT) played solid in net for the Bears registering 29 saves. Horvath had 33 saves in the loss.

In the Saturday’s game, Cortland captured second place in the tournament with a 9-4 win over host Buffalo State. Junior Tim Earl (Troy, NY) scored the game-winning goal for the Red Dragons. Forward Nate Gagnon (Wilton, NY) had a hat-trick in Cortland’s win. Mike DeMarco (Niagara Falls, NY) netted his second of the year, as four different Bengals scored in the game. Anthony Destefano (Boca Raton, FL) and Ryan Marvin (Newbury Park, CA) scored their first career goals in a Buffalo State uniform Greg Prybylski (Cheektowaga, NY) also scored for Buffalo State. Senior Mark Paine (Saratoga Springs, NY) had 42 saves in the win for Cortland.