In a year where Albany football has been defensive-minded, an offensive explosion
produced a 40-29 victory over Gannon last Saturday. The Great Danes, who own their
best seven-game record since 1979 at 6-1 overall, rolled up 514 total yards, and the
two teams combined for more than 1,000 in an old-fashion shootout at University
Field.
Albany jumped to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Tailback Greg Garrett scored on a two-yard run and cornerback Troy Rhett returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown.
Gannon quarterback Todd Heigley, who connected on 18 of 42 passes for 360 yards but was intercepted five times, hit halfback Jason Ott on a six-yard scoring pass to slice the UA lead in half with 8:37 left before halftime.
Albany upped its advantage to 28-7 behind the play of junior quarterback Joe Savino, who passed for 266 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore Mike Browne, who rushed for a career-high 137.
Savino fired a nine-yard pass to tight end Seth Thomas to complete a 75-yard march, and then hooked up with wideout Dan Gmelin on a 14-yard fade pattern. Gmelin, a junior, caught nine passes for a career-best 130 yards.
Gannon closed the gap to 28-21 midway through the third period. Heigley, who had the second best passing day in Gannon history, threw a 74-yard scoring strike to Lee Castana, who had a career game with 11 receptions for 262 yards. Heigley then found Tim Romanski in the left flat with a six-yard TD completion, before a two-point pass brought the Golden Knights within one touchdown.
“I didn’t think they were going to score that many points on our defense,” said Savino, who accounted for 298 yards and recorded the third highest single-game passing total in UA annals. “I was expecting big things this week, but the way their quarterback threw the ball really surprised me.”
Albany, which showed balanced with 266 passing yards and 248 on the ground, pulled away with 12 unanswered points. Deron Regev booted a 39-yard field goal, the longest by an Albany kicker since 1993, before Savino threw a 16-yard TD pass to fullback Mike Grever. Linebacker John Moskov tackled Heigley in the end zone for a safety and a 40-21 lead in the final period.
The Great Danes avenged last year’s 19-point loss to the Stony Brook in their previous effort with a 19-12 victory in a driving rainstorm with 30 mile-per-hour wind gusts.
Albany led 13-0 after three quarters, but the Seawolves rallied behind two touchdown runs by Bobby Kane. His 89-yard scamper with 2:59 left brought Stony Brook within 13-12, before Moskov stopped Kane short of the goal line on a two-point conversion run.
Defensive end Matt Caliandro, who was named the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, sacked quarterback Anthony Gazzillo in the end zone with 29 seconds left, and the hit led to Peter London’s fumble recovery for a touchdown.
With the conditions, it was appropriate that linebacker Steve Flood turned in an all-weather performance by matching a season-high 12 tackles to go with two sacks.
The two victories have moved Albany into the Top 10 in the Lambert-Meadowlands Division II Poll.
Freshman Julie Bliss and sophomore Mary Wood each won a singles and doubles title as Albany won its second straight New England Collegiate Conference women’s tennis championship on October 18-20.
Albany, which had four singles and two doubles champions, captured the crown with 40 points, while Franklin Pierce was second with 26.
“I didn’t realize how good we were,” head coach Darcie Trapasso said. “My freshmen (Bliss, Marci Travin) are such a powerful æone’ and ætwo’ to have in your lineup.”
Bliss, who posted a 17-5 record this season, won all three matches in straight sets to become the Flight I singles titleholder. She also teamed with Travin, the Flight II singles winner, for a Flight I doubles championship.
Wood had a rougher road as the Flight III singles champion. She came from behind to defeat Franklin Pierce’s Kara Ducharme, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, and Sacred Heart’s Kelly Quinn, 6-7 (7-0), 6-1, 6-3, in her final two matches. Wood also garnered her second consecutive NECC doubles crown, as she and partner Christine Phillips won in Flight II. Phillips also claimed the Flight IV singles title for the Great Danes.
Senior Tonya Dodge, of Granville, N.Y., won for the third consecutive weekend, as she captured the Collegiate Track Conference championship last Saturday. In addition, Albany was crowned as the men’s team champion.
Dodge, who was first at the Albany and Slippery Rock invitationals the previous two weeks, ran 18:51 over the 5,000-meter distance. Freshman Andrea Viger, also from Granville, finished eighth in 20:45, and the Danes took second in the team competition.
Albany scored 32 points to easily outdistance Southern Connecticut State (78) for the men’s championship. Senior Dennis King was third in 26:51, while Ryan Osborn placed fifth. Ben Wright (6th, 27:01) and Todd Weiss (7th, 27:05), a pair of freshman, also keyed the victory on the 8,000-meter course.
At the 30th annual Albany Invitational, the men and women each placed fourth in the team standings. The NECC also scored its championship at the meet, where Dodge picked up an individual conference title for the third-place women’s team. The UA men were second.
Nicole Vieni and Tovah Atwell celebrated their birthdays with two goals apiece in leading Albany to a school-record 12th victory with a 4-0 triumph over Merrimack last Sunday at Albany Field.
Vieni, who turned 22, slapped in a rebound with one minute and 28 seconds gone in the contest. Atwell, on her 18th birthday, scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half. She tallied her 11th goal of the season off a crossing pass to give the Great Danes a 3-0 advantage.
Vieni added her sixth goal this season in the second half, as Albany improved to 12-3. The Danes finish up their regular schedule with a road trip to Indiana, Pa. and Slippery Rock.
Albany outscored the opposition, 14-0, in last week’s three contests, and is getting solid play from goalkeeper Leia Shick, who has four shutouts this fall.
Senior midfielder Jomo Forrester had one goal and one assist as the Great Danes ended a four-match winless streak with a 3-0 victory over Bridgeport last Saturday in a New England Collegiate Conference contest. Forrester upped his career numbers to 21 goals and 14 assists.
Albany (8-6-2, NECC 4-3-1) hosted the top-ranked team in Division II last week. Southern Connecticut State, the defending national champion, won a 3-0 decision at Bleecker Stadium. The Owls snapped a scoreless deadlock with two goals in two-minute stretch midway through the second half.
The Danes end their 1996 season this Sunday, when they host Merrimack at 1:00 p.m.
Rafaela Nikas, who last week was selected as the New England Collegiate Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season, continues to lead Albany, which has a 10-9 record entering the month of November.
Nikas is averaging 3.87 kills and 4.15 digs in 61 games played.. She had 11 kills and 14 digs in a 15-8, 15-3, 16-14 victory over Merrimack at the Massachusetts-Lowell Tournament.
Albany ended its fall campaign with four straight losses to finish with a 5-13 overall record. The Great Danes dropped a 2-0 decision to Bridgeport in the season finale at Varsity Field.
Freshman Brett Wolfson finished with four goals and three assists to lead the team in scoring, while goalkeeper Sheri Blackman had a 2.6 goals against average as an 18-match starter.