SPORTS TALK

 Football
   Senior tailback Donald Dorsey rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns as Robert Morris moved closer to a fourth straight Northeast Conference championship with a 30-20 victory over Albany in a battle of conference unbeatens last Saturday. A crowd of 4,824 watched the NEC showdown at University Field on Homecoming and Family Weekend.
    Robert Morris (6-2, NEC 5-0) posted its fifth straight win, and can wrap up the conference title with victories in its final two games. If the Colonials stumble, Albany (6-2, NEC 5-1) can share the crown with a victory in its season finale against Sacred Heart on Nov. 6. 
    Dorsey, who rushed for 144 yards in the first half, gave his club a 10-0 lead on a 67-yard run with 11:22 left in the second quarter. Quarterback Tim Levcik, who connected on 18 of 29 attempts for 214 yards, threw a perfect 15-yard scoring pass to Sam Dorsett for a 17-point cushion midway through the period. 
    The Great Danes closed the gap to 17-7 by halftime. Quarterback Eric Williams hit split end Chris Phillis with a 9-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-down play. 
    In the third quarter, Robert Morris took control, as free safety Ray Thomas came up with an interception on Albany's opening possession. Following the turnover, Dorsey capped a six-play scoring drive with a 13-yard run. "Dorsey is an excellent big-play running back," Albany coach Bob Ford said.  "He made people miss out there." 
     The Colonials eventually pushed out to a 30-7 advantage, as place-kicker Jeff Carlo, who booted three field goals on the day to set a single-game record, kicked a 30-yarder with 6:39 left in the contest. 
     Albany's Michael Oliva led a furious comeback in the stretch. The senior quarterback fired a 69-yard TD pass to tight end Steve Checksfield, and then recovered the subsequent onside kick that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Greg Garrett. 
    The Great Danes would finally run out of time in the waning seconds, when RMC free safety Jason Hempstead sealed the victory with his second interception of the game on the Colonials' 4-yard line. 
    "Our squad showed fighting spirit," Ford said.  "But there were times we did not appear to be a well-coached team.  They were well prepared, executed their game plan, and had fine clock management in the fourth quarter." 
     "We did not play to our capabilities today," said Oliva, who threw for 167 yards and rushed for 30 more on the afternoon. 
DANE NOTES:  Albany can reach the seven-win mark for the fourth straight year with a victory against Sacred Heart ... the Great Danes’ longest stretch of seven or more victories came in three consecutive seasons from 1973-75 ... tailback Greg Garrett established school records for career touchdowns (31) and career points (192) with a 4-yard TD run last week ... Mike Grever can become UA's all-time tackles leader with eight hits against Sacred Heart ... Albany's senior class, a group of 21 athletes, make their final appearance at University Field on Saturday ... the Great Danes are a combined 34-7 over the last four years ...

Field Hockey
    Tovah Atwell scored three goals in leading Albany to its sixth straight win with a 5-0 victory over C.W. Post on Saturday at Albany Field.  The Great Danes complete their regular-season schedule with an 11-4 record, and will be considered for ECAC post-season play.
    Atwell scored twice within a three-minute span to give her team an early 2-0 advantage.  Angie Stegel converted a no-angle shot eight minutes later for her 12th goal of the season.
    Atwell, a senior from West Winfield, N.Y., tallied her 63rd career goal in the second half.  She is the school's all-time scorer with 158 career points.
Earlier in the week, Stegel scored twice as the Great Danes dumped crosstown-rival Siena, 3-0.

Cross Country
    Sophomore Jamie Rodriguez won the men's individual title at the 33rd annual Albany Invitational at Saratoga Spa State Park on Oct. 30. Rodriguez covered the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 31.97 seconds, and led his team to a second-place finish.
    Mike Kiernan and Andy Rickert were fourth and sixth, respectively, for the Great Danes. Plattsburgh was the meet champion in a field of nine schools with 48 points.
    A personal-best performance by Nicole Herring led the Albany women to a runner-up finish among eight teams.  Herring went 18:11.91 over 5,000 meters, and was just behind champion Micky Kelly, of Cortland. Albany's Andrea Viger took sixth with a time of 18:38.76.
    Both UA teams will compete in the NCAA East Regionals on November 13 in Boston, Massachusetts.
 

The University at Albany kickline was part of a special tribute to the University's new NCAA Division I status at the annual President's Recognition Dinner on Saturday, Oct. 30 at the Recreation and Convocation Center. In addition to the kickline, the dinner, which honors University donors and supporters, featured Great Dane athletes and cheerleaders and the University Chamber Singers. At the dinner, Malcolm Blum '54 was honored with the State University of New York (SUNY) Empire State Medal for Philanthropy, which is awarded to individuals who have made leadership contributions to SUNY institutions in excess of $100,000. Blum has established a scholarship endowment for the University's School of Education and contributed generously to the University's endowment.

Intergenerational Housing, A New Concept in Campus Living

    A new concept in campus living - the Fort Orange Village Intergenerational Housing Project - is under discussion for the University at Albany.
    University President Karen R. Hitchcock says the goal is to develop, with private partners, an innovative residential University at Albany community for students and retired faculty. 
    Such a community would feature “intergenerational housing serving retired faculty along with students with children; a child-care center providing services to students and an opportunity for volunteerism for resident retirees; and a community and recreational center offering educational and social programming that integrates community life with University life, including educational programming offered for and by all residents, including senior residents,” says Hitchcock.
    Fort Orange Village is a response to “powerful economic and demographic changes in our society,” says Hitchcock. “No longer are universities solely places for the education of young people. They have become sites of lifelong learning and re-tooling for adults, professionals, and students of all ages and races, as well as for married students and students with children.” 
    She adds that the intergenerational housing project would benefit both the University and its “extended family” throughout the Capital Region, as retired faculty enjoy the stimulation of volunteer service and a unique residential environment; and the children of residents participate in day-care, after-school, and academic programs. Fort Orange Village could also provide a research setting for University faculty interested in anthropological, sociological, biological, psychological, and gerontological issues, as well as by those in the fields of public policy, ethics, education, social welfare, child development, wellness, and economics.
    “The New American Village: Intergenerational Living for the Next Millennium,” a conference addressing those issues, is scheduled for the spring semester.
    A presentation of the Fort Orange Village Intergenerational Housing Project and a discussion of the planned conference will be held Nov. 18 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the New Library's Helderberg Room.