Football

Rutgers 31, UB 15

Dennis Thomas rushed for 177 yards on 30 carries and Rutgers used a momentum-changing first-half turnover to score a 31-15 victory over the Bulls before a UB Stadium record crowd of 22,658.

The loss spoiled the debut of new head coach Jim Hofher, but didn't dampen the coach's spirits. The Bulls battled the Scarlet Knights of the Big East on even terms throughout most of the game and the contest was a far cry from UB's 59-0 loss to Rutgers last year.

The Bulls opened the game strongly, forcing Rutgers, who rolled up 453 yards in last year's meeting, to punt on their first two possessions and caused turnovers on its next two. However, the difference in the game came when the Bulls could not take advantage of those opportunities.

The first chance came when junior Mike Lambert intercepted a pass by Ryan Cubit and returned it to the Rutgers 41 with 7:52 left in the first quarter. However, the Bulls were hurt by a false start and eventually punted. On the next drive, senior Omari Jordan forced a fumble by Thomas that was recovered by Lamar Wilcher at the UB 47.

After driving to the Rutgers 32-yard line, the turning point in the first half came when senior quarterback Joe Freedy had his pass glance off the hands of tight end Chad Bartoszek right to Shawn Seabrooks, who returned it 73 yards for the momentum-changing Rutgers' score.

Rutgers increased the lead to 23-0 in the third quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Ryan Sands, but the Bulls never stopped playing. Senior free safety Craig Rohlfs put the Bulls back in the game when he picked off a Cubit pass inside his 20-yard line and weaved his way down the field 82 yards and the third-longest interception return in UB history.

The Bulls narrowed the lead to 31-15 with 5:15 remaining when Freedy hit junior Dan Lindsay from 16 yards out.

Soccer

Men's

Lehigh 5, UB 0

UB 2, Army 1

The men's soccer team dropped a 5-0 decision to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks to open the 2001 season on Saturday afternoon in the Lehigh-Army Soccer Classic at Ronald J. Ulrich Field.

The Bulls trailed by only one goal at intermission before surrendering four goals in a six-and-a-half minute span early in the second half as Lehigh handed UB its first opening day loss in five years.

Sophomore Dave Pidgeon and junior Jenton Esworthy scored first-half goals as the Bulls held on for a 2-1 victory over the Army Black Knights in the tournament finale.

Pidgeon scored his first goal as a Bull 29 minutes into the game to give UB the lead. Not to be outdone, Esworthy then tallied his first in a UB uniform less than four minutes later when he took a pass from junior Mike Peplinski and beat Army goalkeeper Tyler Donnell to give the Bulls a two-goal advantage.

UB seniors Bill Norberg and Matt Yeates were named to the All-Tournament Team for their strong play in the tournament.

Women's

UB 4, Niagara 1

Syracuse 4, UB 0

Niagara's Rosie Luzak gave the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead 14:48 into the game, but UB battled back to score four-straight goals en route to a 4-1 non-conference victory in the season opener at RAC Field.

UB sophomore Nicole Olszewski tied the score at 1-1 at the 37:02 mark, scoring off a feed from Jenny Dannecker. Senior Paula Sinclair then scored on a long shot from outside the box before sophomore sisters Devon Russell and Emily Russell added back-to-back goals to close out the scoring. However, the Bulls dropped a 4-0 decision to Syracuse on Labor Day at RAC Field.

Syracuse sophomore Nina Scalzo was the thorn in the side for the Bulls, as she finished with two goals and an assist, handing UB its first loss of the season.

Volleyball

UB 3, Stony Brook 1

St. John's 3, UB 0

UB 3, Canisius 0

Led by the play of sophomore Lindsay Matikosh and freshman Katie Henry, UB pulled out a four-game win over Stony Brook in its first match of the season at the UB Morgan Classic Invitational.

The Bulls dropped a 30-24 decision in game one, but rebounded to score 30-28, 30-24 and 30-28 wins in games two, three and four. The National Association for Girls and Women in Sports (NAGWS) has adopted a rally scoring format for all matches this season, with the first four games up to 30 and the fifth and deciding game up to 15.

Matikosh led the Bulls with a match-high 16 kills, nine digs and five blocks, while Henry tallied 11 kills, nine digs and five service aces in her first collegiate match.

However, UB played to a second-place finish in the tournament, losing to St. John's by a 3-0 score (30-22, 30-19, 30-25) and defeating Canisius 3-0 (30-22, 30-18, 30-22) to end the weekend with a 2-1 record.