Sports Talk
By Brian DePasquale
Football Wins Opening Two Games
Senior quarterback Marcus Rotondi passed for three touchdowns and the Albany defense held St. John’s to 41 net rushing yards, as the Great Danes posted a 31-6 victory on Saturday, Sept. 8, in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams at University Field.

Rotondi, who threw for a career-high 177 yards, hit Jonathan Garrick on the right sideline, and the flanker raced 76 yards to paydirt to get Albany (2-0, NEC 1-0) on the scoreboard. Bryan Bagstad added a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.

St. John’s (0-1, NEC 0-1) closed the gap, when freshman quarterback Kyle Lauver hooked up with fullback Derek Jones on a 54-yard scoring pass with 4:20 left in the period. The point-after attempt missed wide left.

Rotondi, who completed 12 of 20 pass attempts, then directed his team on a 13-play march. He capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown throw to split end Chris Phillis on a third-and-goal play, and the Great Danes held a 17-6 lead with 27 seconds remaining before intermission.

Albany’s offense rolled up 404 yards on the day, and reached the end zone on its first possession of the third quarter. Rotondi fired a 32-yard TD strike to Garrick, their second scoring connection on the day, with 9:12 remaining in the stanza.

Meanwhile, the Albany defense limited St. John’s to just 85 total yards in the final half, and recorded eight sacks for minus-53 yards. Defensive end John Bolt sacked the quarterback on three occasions. The Great Danes, who, like the visitors did not commit a turnover, completed the scoring in the fourth quarter. Reserve quarterback Justin Kozlowski, the hero on opening day in a 14-10 victory over Towson, threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Matt Crudo.

“Moving (John) Bolt from tight end to defensive end has paid big dividends,” said Albany coach Bob Ford, whose program has won 12 of 16 conference games since joining the NEC in 1999. “The defense’s intensity rose as the game progressed and continues to play well as a group. However, I am still concerned about our offense, because we have not established the run early in the season.”

Garrick finished with three receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns, while tailback Brian Manigault led all rushers with 65 yards on 13 carries. The Red Storm’s Lauver, playing in his first game as a collegian, finished with 226 passing yards on 13 of 21 attempts. St. John’s dropped a season-opening contest for the first time since 1995.

Field Hockey Beats Sacred Heart
Freshman Sara Gonzalez scored her first collegiate goal, a game-winner, midway through the second half as Albany defeated Sacred Heart, 3-2, in a non-conference contest on Saturday, Sept. 8, at Campus Field.

Albany (1-3) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Ali Mann scored off a pass from Gonzalez less than ten minutes into the contest. Sophomore Lisa Burline, playing in her first game of the season after recovering from a broken thumb, slapped in Amy DiMicco’s pass at the 14:01 mark to give the Great Danes a 2-0 advantage.

Sacred Heart (1-3) got on the scoreboard five minutes into the second half with an unassisted goal by Kristen Van Buskirk. However, Gonzalez regained her team’s two-goal advantage with 25:58 remaining. Goalkeeper Elaine Sullivan recorded 13 saves for the Great Danes, while Robyn Breer had 11 for the Pioneers. UAlbany opened with three losses to Big East Conference schools.

Men’s Soccer Rallies in Final Minutes Against Iona
Ashtian Holmes netted the game-winning goal with five minutes and 17 seconds remaining, as Albany posted its first victory of the season with a 3-2 non-conference win over Iona on Friday, Sept. 7, at Varsity Field.

Holmes, a junior midfielder, touched in a crossing pass from defender Greg Chevalier, who broke clear from the Iona defense when hauling in a served ball from teammate Tim Roty.

Albany (1-1) grabbed a 2-1 lead with 3:13 left in the opening half, as Holmes, who had two goals and one assist, hit the lower right corner of the net from five yards away. Iona (0-4) drew even at two apiece less than two minutes later on an unassisted goal by senior midfielder Paul Nobile, his second of the game.

Goalkeeper Trevor Serraro had four saves for the Great Danes, who travel to southern California this weekend to meet San Diego and San Diego State. The Gaels’ Patrick McAllen and Robert Dolle combined on six saves.

Volleyball Gets First Win for New Coach
Alissa Gibbs posted a career-high 29 kills, as Albany ended an eight-match losing streak with a 30-24, 13-30, 28-30, 30-27, 15-6 victory over Iona on Friday, Sept. 7, at University Gymnasium.

Albany (1-3) rallied in the fourth and fifth games to win for the first time since last November 1. Gibbs, a junior outside hitter, added five digs and one block. Freshman Fallon Hearst totaled 12 kills and 10 digs, while setter Jill Dombrowski had 45 assists. Junior outside hitter Kathy Kunah had 23 kills and nine digs for the Gaels, who fell to 2-3.

The Great Danes also provided first-year head coach Kelly Sheffield, a former assistant at Clemson and Virginia, with his first victory.

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