Big Blue Report: September 20th Edition

Upcoming Alfred State Athletic Schedule

Links to Live Video - Stats - Results available on individual team schedule pages or at www.alfredstateathletics.com/composite 

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Week in Review:

Men's Cross Country: 2nd place at Gary Moore Invitational

Gavin Bathgate (East Rochester) won his second straight race to open up the 2021 season as he took the individual title at the Gary Moore Invitational. Bathgate and the Pioneers finished 2nd overall in the team standings.

Bathgate crossed the finish line of the 8k course in 29:37.96 to claim the title. He finished nearly 50 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Andrew Hvisdak (Orchard Park/Hamburg) was 6th (33:33.54), Aiden Bonomo (Manalpan, NJ) was 9th (34:27.93), Brian Clark (Bethpage) was 11th (36:02.14). Will Swarts (Skaneateles) rounded out the Pioneers top five with a 18th place finish (40:55.20).

Buffalo State won the team title with a score of 30 followed by Alfred State (40), Medaille (70), and Hilbert (86).

Women's Cross Country: 3rd place at Gary Moore Invitational 

The cross country team finished 3rd at the inaugural Gary Moore Invitational. The race also served as a preview of the 2021 AMCC Championships.

Laura Ferris (Victor/Mercy) was the top ASC finisher. She finished the 6k course up and around the hills of campus in 9th place (31:54.36). Sarah Rivet (Waterford/Shenendehowa) was 10th (32:13.92) and Katie Watkins (Addison) was 11th (32:26.77). Summer Kier (East Rochester) was 13th (34:03.76), Mattison Buckley (Wellsville) was 17th (36:40.00), and Annaliese Hersom (Byron Bergen) was 18th (37:36.50).

Buffalo State won the team title with a score of 34 followed by Keuka (46), Alfred State (50), and Hilbert (85).

Football: 0-3

Alfred State and the University of New England battled back and forth until the final seconds of their non-conference match-up on Saturday afternoon. The Nor'easters were able to keep the Pioneers off the board in the final seconds to hold on for a 20-17 victory.

UNE jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the early going before the Pioneers bounced back with a pair of Aaron Jenkins (Canfield, OH) rushing touchdowns (5 and 2 yards) to make it 14-13 at the half. Dawson Fontaine (Bensalem, PA) connected on a field goal in the 3rd to make it 17-13 but the Nor'easters responded with a 64-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead. The Pioneers final possession of the game was a roller coaster of emotions with big plays, costly penalties, and a tying field goal attempt that went wide with 28 seconds left in the game.

Jenkins finished 16 for 34 for 192 yards and accounted for 31 yards rushing and two scores. Jake Palmer (Albany/Voorheesville) rushed 19 times for 84 yards and Ben Ba (Harlem/Park East) caught seven passes for 69 yards.

Joel Smith (Livonia) and Silas Egenlauf (Spencerport) led the Pioneer defense with nine tackles. Smith had a sack and Eglenlauf intercepted a pass. Josh Borowicz (Highland Falls/James O'Neill) had two sacks.

Men's Soccer: 2-5, 0-1 AMCC

The men's soccer team had a busy week and finished 1-2. They defeated Cazenovia 3-1, fell 4-3 to Pitt Bradford in their AMCC opener, and fell 3-1 to Utica.

Anthony Smith (Springville Griffith), Andres Mateos (Batavia), and Jack Leahy (Pittsford Sutherland) scored in the victory over Cazenovia. Thad Grierson (Perry) made six saves to earn the win.

Leahy tied the game up vs. Pitt-Bradford. He then set up Leng Van (Buffalo/Maryvale) to give the Pioneers a 2-1 lead. Nuri Sarbudak (Pittsford Mendon) made it 3-1 but the Panthers tallied three goals in the final 20 minutes to rally for the victory.

Cody Green was part of three corner kick goals for Utica as the Pioneers built a 3-0 lead. David Benson (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) scored after getting a pass from Andres Mateos (Batavia) to the Pioneers on the board but the Utica goalie made multiple diving saves to keep the Pioneers from getting any closer.

Women's Soccer: 4-1, 1-0 AMCC

Alfred State won their 4th straight and opened up AMCC play with a 3-1 victory at Pitt-Bradford on Saturday.

After a scoreless 1st half, Alfred State got on the board in 8:54 into the 2nd half when Emily Winter (North Collins) scored after getting a pass from Megan Fisher (Ashville/Chautauqua Lake).

The Panthers tied it up five minutes later on a goal by Delaney Stowe. Fisher didn't let it stay tied long as she scored moments later after getting a pass from Elaina Luce (Brockport). Fisher scored again with just over five minutes left to seal the victory. Sierra Schofield (Delran, NJ) made two saves to earn her fourth straight victory in net.

Volleyball: 5-1

The volleyball team earned a 25-11, 25-15, 25-13 victory at Penn College on Friday night.

Karleigh Haines (Jamestown) had a big night as she connected on 15 kills and registered a hitting percentage of .406. Alyssa Martin (Portville) had a season best nine kills, Kiara Perkins had five kills and a team best 10 digs, and Keturah Gregory (Laurel, MD) finished with five kills, five digs, and three assisted blocks.

The Pioneers finished the match with a .306 hitting percentage to go along with 10 aces, and 54 digs.