The Alfred University football team played its Empire 8 Conference opener last Saturday at Buffalo State and routed the 24th-ranked Bengals, 40-17.
Alfred (2-1, 1-0) put up 553 yards of offense, including a whopping 401 on the ground. Junior quarterback Zack Sopak (Lakewood/Southwestern) completed 12 of 24 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns from 1 and 10 yards.
For the season, Sopak has completed 36 of 76 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns.
For Buffalo State, defensive end Ben Denn (Jamestown/Jamestown) had three assisted tackles and combined on a tackle for a loss.
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Junior safety B.J. Monacelli (Cassadaga/Cassadaga Valley) recorded three solo tackles and his second interception of the season to help Washington & Jefferson shut out Thiel, 17-0, in a Presidents' Athletic Conference football game last Saturday.
Through four games, Monacelli is fifth on the team in tackles (20), has one tackle for loss, two picks, three passes broken up and five passes defended. He has also forced a fumble.
Meanwhile, sophomore safety Shane Smith (Fredonia/Fredonia) has seven tackles and sophomore safety Eric Tyra (Jamestown/Jamestown) has two tackles.
Junior defensive lineman Zach Marsh (Panama/Panama) saw plenty of playing time in his first action since he was sidelined by injury last season. Junior Andrew Pingitore (Cassadaga/Cassadaga Valley) is a starting right guard and junior Sam Aults (Brocton/Brocton) is a reserve offensive lineman.
The Presidents are 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
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California University of Pennsylvania junior Erin Kling (Jamestown/Jamestown), an Academic All-American last year, crossed the finish line second overall with a time of 19 minutes, 19 seconds at the Saint Vincent (Pa.) Invitational cross country meet last Saturday.
The Vulcans claimed the title for the second straight year, boasting three top-five runners.
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Jess Johnston (Fredonia/Fredonia) improved to 5-1 in singles competition and 5-1 in doubles to help the SUNY Fredonia women's tennis team to 5-1 on the season with a 7-2 victory over Pitt-Bradford on Tuesday.