Sports Talk
By Brian DePasquale
Football
Senior quarterback Justin Holtfreter passed for 296 yards and two touchdowns to lead Sacred Heart to a 32-17 Northeast Conference victory over Albany in a battle of unbeaten teams on Saturday, Oct. 20, at University Field.

UAlbany (5-1, NEC 3-1) went 70 yards to paydirt on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead, as fullback Charles Gill capped the drive with a one-yard run. Senior tailback Brian Manigault, who rushed for a career-high 167 yards, keyed the scoring sequence.

Sacred Heart (6-0, NEC 5-0) rallied with 15 consecutive points to move ahead for good. Holtfreter, who completed 23 of 36 passes, threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to DeVeren Johnson to hand his club a 9-7 lead with 10:05 left in the second quarter.

Following an interception at midfield, Holtfreter directed the Pioneers on a 53-yard drive. Marvin Royal, a senior tailback, scored on a four-yard run for a 15-7 advantage after a two-point conversion pass failed. The Great Danes, who were playing their homecoming game, closed within five by the intermission on Bryan Bagstad’s 37-yard field goal.

The Pioneers, who have won 16 of their last 17 games dating back to the beginning of the 2000 season, took firm control in the third quarter. Tim Redican booted a 27-yard field goal on a 16-play drive to start the half. The subsequent kickoff became an unintended on-side attempt, and wide receiver DaRon Figueroa recovered the ball at the Albany 29. Two plays later, fullback Brandon Graham reached the end zone on an eight-yard run for a commanding 25-10 lead with 6:56 remaining in the period.

Backup quarterback Marcus Rotondi fired a 12-yard scoring pass to split end Chris Phillis late in the third quarter to get UAlbany again within striking distance. But Holtfreter answered on his team’s next possession when he hooked up with Johnson for the second time on a 16-yard TD pass. Johnson finished with 10 receptions for 186 yards.

“We didn’t play well enough to beat a good football team,” said Albany coach Bob Ford, whose team was one of 10 undefeated Division I-AA squads entering the contest. “Every time we got something going, we shot ourselves in the foot.”

UAlbany’s Phillis had nine catches for 113 yards. The Great Danes’ quarterback duo of Ryan Roeder and Rotondi combined on 18-of-37 through the air for 189 yards, but were intercepted three times.

“I was surprised by the single coverage; I thought they would bracket me,” said Johnson, who upped his total to eight touchdown receptions this season. “You always want one-on-one coverage as a receiver. I played a good mental game today.”

Cross Country
University at Albany’s Jamie Rodriguez captured his second men’s individual title, and Hamilton’s Maggie Hanson won the women’s crown at the 35th Albany Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13, at UAlbany’s campus course. The Great Danes garnered the men’s and women’s team championships.

Rodriguez, a senior who also won this event in 1999, covered the 8,000-meter layout in 25:23.80, and was 15 seconds ahead of Buffalo’s Todd Ludden. Rodiguez was awarded the ECAC’s athlete of the week for his performance. UAlbany had three other runners in the top-10, including Andy Allstadt, who was third in 25:39.62. The Great Danes won their own invitational for the first time since 1998, and were 10 points better than runner-up Buffalo.

“This was a good workout, but it is still early in the season,” said Rodriguez, whose team will compete in the America East Conference Championships on October 27 in Orono, Maine. “America East is among my top-three goals, and I feel I am on pace with my training.”

In the women’s 5,000-meter race, Hanson and teammate Jen Cammarano posted a one-two finish. Hanson, a senior, broke the tape with a time of 18:10.81, while Cam-marano was second in 18:55.71. UAlbany’s Jes-sica Walton, the defending champion, placed fourth among 148 competitors, and was clocked in at 19:07.70.

The Great Danes, who had five runners among the top-16 finishers, easily claimed the team title with 62 points, while Cortland and Hamilton tied for second with 91.

“This race helped identify our weak points,” Walton explained. “It was a hot day and my legs were heavy. We have two weeks to concentrate on where we want to be as a team, so this is something to build upon.”

Women’s Golf
Colleen McDonnell fired rounds of 72 and 78 to win medalist honors, as Central Connecticut State won the team championship at the Rutgers Invitational on October 12-13 at Rutgers Golf Course.

UAlbany finished 13th among 17 teams in the 36-hole tournament. Diane Onofry and Jill Friedman, a pair of freshmen, tied for 28th among 86 golfers on the par-72, 5,847-yard layout. Onofry shot a second-round 79 for a two-day total of 169, while Friedman had scores of 83 and 86. Katie Wachtl tied for 58th place with a two-round score of 182 (95-87) in the Great Danes’ final event of the season.

The Great Danes, under the direction of head coach Richard Sauers, put together their best fall in the program’s brief history with a pair of top-10 finishes in tournament play and two victories in triangular matches.

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