Barton Rushes Dane Football to 7th Straight

Senior quarterback Joe Savino passed for a season-high 231 yards and one touchdown and reserve tailback Nyamekye Barton rushed for 104 yards and a third-quarter score in leading Albany to a 22-6 Eastern Football Conference victory against Massachusetts-Lowell at Cawley Memorial Stadium.

Albany (7-1) has a seven-game winning streak for the first time since 1977, and is in first place in the conference’s Atlantic Division with a 6-0 mark.

Savino, who threw for the seventh highest single-game total in school history, fired a 49-yard touchdown strike to split end Dan Gmelin for a 6-0 lead on the opening series. Gmelin’s 13th career TD reception tied a school record. Place-kicker Deron Regev booted a 32-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the second quarter for a 9-0 halftime lead.

Barton, making his first start as a collegian, rushed for 55 yards over his previous seven games this season, but carried 20 times in the rain and mud to topple the century mark last Saturday. The freshman tailback scored on a 5-yard run over right guard with 11:29 left in the third period.

“I felt nervous in my first start,” said Barton, who replaced regular Greg Garrett. “But I followed the linemen, and felt in synch with Joe (Savino) on the option. Having played in the earlier games, it gave me the courage I needed today.”

Mass.-Lowell quarterback John Speidel flipped a three-yard scoring pass to Noel Gourdin in the fourth quarter, before Albany’s Ben Kelcey completed an 85-yard drive with a one-yard plunge.

“Our offensive line played well against a good pressure defense,” head coach Bob Ford said. “I am not totally happy with our performance, but we played well defensively on first and second down.”

Matt Caliandro, who was chosen as the ECAC-North Division II Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday, led a unit which forced four turnovers and limited UML’s multiple wishbone to 105 net rushing yards. The junior defensive end had eight tackles, including two sacks for minus-18 yards and two other hits for 11 yards in losses.

Sophomore Julie Bliss captured the Flight I singles title for the second consecutive year, and Albany went on to post its third straight New England Collegiate Conference women’s tennis championship on October 19 at University Courts. The Great Danes scored 35 points, and finished ahead of Stony Brook (27) and Sacred Heart (26).

Bliss, who was selected the tournament’s most outstanding singles player, was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Franklin Pierce’s Carolyn Knight. Bliss, of Glenville, lost just two games during the three-day tourney, and improved to 10-5 on the season.

Darcy Wheeler, a junior from Albany, won the Flight II crown with a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Jamie Keller of Stony Brook.

Albany, led by three other area scholastic standouts, garnered the Flight II and Flight III doubles championships. Jennifer Hahn (Bethlehem Central H.S.) and Erinn Langford (Bishop Maginn) upended Franklin Pierce’s Kerrie Rowe and Ali Smith, 6-1, 6-3. Lauren Hargett (Guilderland Central) and Kate McCarthy defeated Joanna Rychlik and Karen Wright of Stony Brook, 7-5, 6-2.

Men’s Cross-Country #1 in NECC; Wright Too

Sophomore Ben Wright’s first-place finish led Albany to its first New England Collegiate men’s cross country championship last Saturday on the University’s campus course.

The Great Danes were 25 points better than runner-up and defending champion Massachusetts-Lowell. Wright, of Averill Park, was first across the line in the 8,000-meter competition with a time of 25:38. He had placed eighth in last year’s NECC meet. Mass.-Lowell’s Brad Klinedinst, the pre-race favorite, took second in 25:57.

Albany’s Brendan Howell, a junior, was fourth in 26:21, while sophomore Shawn Higgins was two seconds behind in fifth place.

The Great Danes were fourth in the women’s championship. Southern Connecticut State emerged as the winner in a tight battle, while Mass.-Lowell and Sacred Heart followed in the order.

Andrea Viger, a sophomore from Granville, and freshman Jenn Dott (Colonie H.S.) have been Albany’s top runners throughout the fall schedule, and last weekend was no different. Viger placed fourth in the 5,000-meter NECC event with a time of 19:18, and Dott was sixth in 19:24.

Field Hockey Goes 16-2; Hopes for ECAC Bid

Sophomore Jen Cordes scored twice in the first half, and Albany closed out its regular schedule with a 2-1 triumph over Massachusetts-Lowell last Saturday.

The Great Danes, who set a school-record for single-season victories, are 16-2 overall, and await a possible berth in the ECAC Division II tournament. A selection committee will choose the participants for the November 8th championship later this week.

Cordes found the cage 44 seconds into the contest on an assist from Tovah Atwell, and tallied her sixth of the season at 17:19 for a 2-0 lead. Goalkeeper Leia Shick made six saves behind a defensive unit led by All-America sweeper Meredith Jackel.

Men’s Soccer Led by Frosh

Last weekend, freshman Jon Brainard scored three goals to lead Albany to a 5-2 New England Collegiate Conference decision over Stony Brook, before 21st-ranked Dowling shut out the Great Danes, 1-0, in a non-conference match.

Albany (10-5, NECC 5-2) has put its freshman class to good use during the month of October. The Great Dane rookies have netted the team’s last 15 goals. Freshman striker Bryan Grabon earned NECC Rookie of the Week honors on Oct. 20, after he scored twice in a 3-1 victory over regionally-ranked New Haven.

Basketball Kicks Off in Halloween Exhibition

Head coach Scott Hicks and his first Albany team will take the floor on Friday, Oct. 31, for the Great Danes’ first competition of the new season, when it plays a Halloween exhibition against Canada’s Concordia College. Tip-off is 8 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocation Center.