Big Blue Report: September 27th 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:

Cross Country: 

The cross country team took the week off and will return to action on Saturday when they travel to the Geneseo Warplane Museum to compete in the Mike Woods Invitational. The race will serve as a preview of the NCAA Cross Country Regionals. 

Football: 1-3

Jake Palmer (Albany/Voorheesville) scored from two yards out with 15 seconds remaining to lift Alfred State to a 35-28 victory at Defiance College.

Defiance took a 7-0 lead after taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. The Pioneers answered with the next 28 points. Rylie Van Fleet (Maine Endwell) intercepted his first of three passes on the day and returned it to the Defiance 20. Five plays later Aaron Jenkins (Canfield, OH) rushed in from three yards out to tie the game. Van Fleet picked off another pass on the next drive and set the Pioneers up at the Defiance 21 after a 32 yard return. Eight plays later on a 4th and Goal, Jenkins scored from one yard out to give ASC the 14-7 advantage.

Halfway through the 3rd quarter, Van Fleet intercepted his third pass and returned it 48 yards to set up the Pioneers on the Defiance 31. Four plays later, Alfred State made it 21-7 when Jenkins connected with Shy'rel Broadwater (Syracuse/Cicero North Syracuse) on a 23-yard scoring play on 4th and 2. Joel Smith (Livonia) picked off a pass on Defiance's next play and set up the Pioneers at the Defiance 34. Four plays later, Jenkins connected with Ben Ba (Harlem/Park East) on a 37-yard pass play on 4th and 13 to make it 28-7.

Defiance didn't go away as they put together three scoring drives and tied the game up with Cole Recker connected with Amin Shaheed on an eight-yard pass play with 3:37 remaining in the contest.

The Pioneers got the ball back and put together a nine-play game-winning drive. Palmer had a big 3rd down catch for 15 yards and Ba picked up 37-yard catch on 3rd and 11 to set up ASC at the Defiance 10 yard line. Palmer picked up eight yards on 1st down and then finished the drive and sealed the victory when he ran in untouched from two yards with 15 seconds left. After the kickoff, Defiance had one last chance and Van Fleet forced a fumble after a lateral as time expired.

Jenkins finished 13 for 26 for 172 yards and two scores and he rushed 28 times for 94 yards and two scores. Ba was the leading receiver with four catches for 81 yards.

Van Fleet finished with a team high six tackles to go along with his three interceptions (101 yards of returns).

Men's Soccer: 3-6, 0-2 AMCC

The men's soccer team split a pair of matches this past week. They defeated Wells College 4-0 on Thursday but fell 3-1 at Penn State Altoona on Saturday.

Nuri Sarbudak (Pittsford Mendon) had a big day to lead the offense at Wells. Sarbudak assisted on the first goal of the game when he set up Jackson Powers (Syracuse/Westhill) in the 28th minute. He made it 2-0 when he scored in the 34th minute. With just over five minutes left in the 1st half, the Pioneers made it a 3-0 advantage on an own goal. Sarbudak added an insurance goal in the 51st minute to grab the team scoring lead. Thad Grierson (Perry) made three saves to record the shutout in goal.

Altoona scored three 1st half goals in the AMCC match-up on Saturday. ASC was able to break the shutout in the 89th minute when Farhan Abdi (Rochester/School of the Arts) tapped one in from 12 yards out after getting a pass from Anthony Smith (Colden/Springville Griffith).

Women's Soccer: 4-3, 1-1 AMCC

The Pioneers lost a pair of one-goal matches this week. They lost a 1-0 battle in the rain vs. Penn College and fell 2-1 in double OT at Penn State Altoona.

Penn College scored the lone goal of the game six minutes into the 2nd half. The Pioneers had chances but couldn't get one past the Wildcat keeper. Sierra Schofield (Delran, NJ) made five saves for ASC.

Altoona scored a goal 6:46 into the second overtime to earn the victory on Saturday. Emily O'Duffy (Livonia) tied it in the 73rd minute when she floated a shot past the keeper from the right corner of the box. Allison Lundmark (Jamestown/Southwestern) was credited with the assist. Schofield continued to play excellent in net. She recorded 11 saves.

Volleyball: 7-1, 1-0 AMCC

The volleyball team won a pair of matches this week. They swept Penn College 25-16, 25-8, 25-6 and then opened up AMCC by sweeping Penn State Altoona 25-19, 25-16, 25-21.

Versus Penn College, Karleigh Haines (Jamestown) led the way with nine kills (.467) and nine digs while Kiara Perkins (Coudersport, PA) finished with eight kills (.462) and eight digs. Nicolina Sottile (Lindenhurst) served 17 times in the 3rd set and finished with five aces and 13 assists. 

The trio of Alyssa Martin (Portville), Perkins, and Keturah Gregory (Largo, MD) led the way for the blue and gold in the win over Altoona. Martin led the team with nine kills and four aces, Perkins had eight kills, and Gregory finished with eight kills (.583 hitting percentage). Nayomie Ferrer (Eastridge) passed out 28 assists, had six digs, and three kills while Emma Petrichick (Belmont/Genesee Valley) led the team with eight digs.