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NFL Kicks Off, Time To ‘Billieve’
Chris Winkler COMMENTARY
Now that the precursors known as high school and college football have kicked off, it’s time for the real thing, The Shield. What seemed liked a long offseason really wasn’t. Sure we had daily coverage of a lockout that we all knew would end long before tonight’s opener, but we didn’t actually miss a day of football. Heck, we even dodged Brett Favre will-he-won’t-he come back mania on his front lawn in Hattiesburg, Miss. for another season. OK, we didn’t dodge that entirely. But, whatever the last eight months were for all football fans, we know one thing — it ends tonight. Give the NFL credit, they always find a way to make he Opening Night about as n juicy and can’t miss as a s season premiere of HBO’s w Entourage. Tonight will be e no different as the defendhis ing Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers take on est the New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champs from two years ago. To me, these er are hands down the two best nd teams in the NFC this year. The But, if that isn’t enough to y fulfill your appetite, Sunday A- night’s showdown, featuring America’s new favorite famon. ily, the Ryan’s, probably will. In what feels like the inevitable reality show to replace the Kardashian’s, de Rex and Rob Ryan will put ot their respective minds — or er mouths — against each other els as the Dallas Cowboys take on the New York Jets on c- what should be a particularly ns moving night in New York nd City on the 10-year anniversary of 9-11. s However, my eyes are focused on one game and one d, game only this week, Bills at up Chiefs. t rth It doesn’t take much for o internal Bills-fan optimism he to grow inside of me. I’ll find a reason to “billieve” in Shawne Merriman — who ge- really hasn’t played in four he years — Steve Johnson — for who has really only had nd one season — and Marcell 2 Dareus — who really hasn’t played in the NFL at all. But nevertheless, the Bills head into Kansas City with a reason to be optimistic. Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Cassel might not play for Kansas City. But more enticing is his backup, Tyler Palko — not the guy from The Replacements, despite uncanny resemblances — has thrown a whopping six passes in his NFL career.
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If the Bills can spring an upset on opening day, they’d get to host the Oakland Raiders in Week Two. I’m not the only one getting ahead of myself when I think the Bills could be 2-0. Mike Florio of NBC Sports and ProFootballTalk.com went as far to call the Bills a playoff team. Regardless, the usual bevy of last place prognostications aren’t exactly null and void, but you might be surprised how many credible NFL reporters think the Bills are going to be a quality .500 football team or … gulp, even better. I’m not quite sold there, but it’s actually semi easy to argue for the Bills defense if Merriman can stay healthy — which obviously isn’t the easiest thing to argue in itself. But, with the small sample we saw in the preseason, when Merriman is on the field, he is a monster. And with his pass rush, all of the Bills leaky pipes seem to be collectively fixed. That of course is compounded with the rookie Dareus looking to be a non-first round bust to be drafted by the Bills — who knew that was possible? And a much deeper and talented pool of linebackers, headed by free agent acquisition Nick Barnett. The always-solid secondary won’t miss a beat without Donte Whitner. In fact, in my eyes, it’s more of the proverbial addition by subtraction. The Bills offense? Well, that’s a bit of a different story, but just play along for a few moments. With Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills went 4-9 last year (Trent Edwards 0-2, Brian Brohm was 0-1). In three of those games, the Bills actually had the game won. Rian Lindell missed a game-winning field goal in overtime against the Chiefs, Shawn Nelson fumbled in overtime with the Bills in field goal position against the Ravens and Johnson dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone in — wait for it — overtime. So should the Bills have been 7-6 with Fitzpatrick as the starting quarterback? I tend to think it’s not all that farfetched. Now, with a better defense and ideally a muchimproved C.J. Spiller, the offense can only be better right? And before you go mentioning the departure of Lee Evans, who I liked dearly, don’t forget how much of a nonfactor he was for almost the entire season — outside of the Ravens game, I’ll admit. And if the Bills do actually have depth at one position, it is wide receiver. Hopefully I’ve done a good of enough job of convincing you because I just convinced myself. Bills go 8-8, book it.
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September 8, 2011 Edition – Sports Section – B
Sophomore Attack Shuts Out Florida Atlantic, 2-0 Contributed Article
St. Bonaventure Sports Information
HARRISONBURG, Va. — Sophomore Brad Vanino scored in the 3rd minute, sophomore James Reed added an insurance tally in the 73rd minute and sophomore goalkeeper Mitchell Mack earned his second consecutive shutout on Sunday as the men's soccer team (2-2) defeated Florida Atlantic (1-2-1) by a score of 2-0. Vanino gave St. Bonaventure the early lead, and in keeping with the sophomore theme, Reed had the primary assist and fellow second-year Daniel Iannacito was credited with the secondary assist. Vanino received a pass from Reed via the left side of the pitch, and from just a couple yards in front of the FAU goal he beat keeper Jeremy Crumpton. The goal was the first of the season for Vanino, who also had the primary assist on Iannacito's goal on Friday in a 1-0 win over UNC Asheville. The Bonnies continued to dictate the pace of play following their opening strike, holding at one point a 5-1 shot advantage and finishing the first half with a 6-0 advantage in corners.
St. Bonaventure got the insurance goal it was looking for off the foot of Reed midway through the second half. Emmett O'Connor – also a sophomore – sent a ball into the center of the box from the right side of the pitch to Reed, who was at the end of a lengthy run which originated in the Bonaventure defensive end. “We had a wonderful early goal from Vanino, and Reed's goal was brilliant especially considering his run originated from 70 yards away,” head coach Mel Mahler said. “His (Reed's) commitment is to be admired.” With the two-goal lead, the Bona defense in front of Mack was able to keep the Owl attackers at bay most of the match, as the keeper needed to make only two saves to earn his second career shutout. After surrendering six total goals in two losses last weekend, the Bonnies have now evened their record at .500 with back-to-back shutouts. Sunday's win was
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over a very formidable opponent as well, as Florida Atlantic defeated Florida Gulf Coast last week, 3-1, when the Eagles were ranked No. 14 in the nation. “This is a great win for our program,” Mahler commented. “Our goal was to get two wins on this weekend trip, and I'm proud of the effort both physically and mentally. Now we rest and refocus for another challenge next weekend.” That challenge comes in the form of another long road trip and two games in three days as the Bonnies head to a tournament at High Point University in North Carolina. The club will face Radford on Friday before battling the host Panthers on Sunday. Game Notes: This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools … the game was part of the James Madison University/Fairfield Inn by Marriott Invitational Tournament … St. Bonaventure took 15 total corners in the match, compared with just three by FAU … the Bonnies out-shot the Owls, 10-7 … FAU committed 11 fouls while Bonaventure was whistled for seven … three yellow cards were issued, two to FAU (Tyler McNabb; Darnell King) and one to SBU (Garrett Pasono).
Freshman Elwell Scores Game-Winner as Bona Beats UB Contributed Article
St. Bonaventure Sports Information
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Freshman Alicia Elwell booted in the game-winning goal in the 46th minute, helping the St. Bonaventure women's soccer team (3-2) overcome an early deficit and notch a 3-2 victory over University at Buffalo (3-1) Saturday night at UB Stadium. The Bonnies fell behind early but scored twice in a 1:41 span to take a 2-1 lead. Buffalo — who came into the match riding a three-game unbeaten streak to start the year — answered four minutes later on a free kick to tie the score going into the half before Elwell's winner from Dakota Carroll during a scrum in front of the net 1:31 into the second half. "This was a great team win," offered Bona mentor Manoj Khettry. "Everyone who played came on and provided us some-
thing positive. I'm glad we were able to take advantage of the scoring chances we had, but obviously we'll have to get tighter in the back." After Buffalo's Taylor Thompson gave the Bulls the intial lead just six minutes in, SBU settled in and answered with a pair of goals – the beginning of a 5:33 stretch in which three total goals were scored. Alyssa Lapp fielded a pass from Elwell and beat the UB keeper high to even the score, with Taylor Broderick heading in a free kick off the foot of Hannah Lapp under two minutes later to give SBU a 2-1 lead in the 29th minute.
The Bulls' Shannon Algoe capped off the first-half scoring with a 25-yard free kick from the left side. Bona starter Megan Junker made four saves in the first half and gave way to Jennifer Andrews (1-0) in the second. "For starting the game as poorly as we did, I was proud that our subs, especially Chelsea Smetzer and Carroll, gave us a spark and helped us right the ship," added Khettry. "Jen Andrews' play in the second half was good and she helped us solve some problems we were having organizationally. We're excited to have finally won at UB against a team that was undefeated and hadn't allowed a goal in their first three games." St. Bonaventure continues its five-game road swing on Friday, when the Bonnies will take on Sacred Heart in the first game of the Army Invitational at West Point.
Fredonia Women’s Soccer Splits Weekend Games In Texas Contributed Article
Fredonia State Sports Information
DALLAS, Texas — Fredonia State fell to 1-1 with a 1-0 loss Sunday to University of Texas-Dallas. Texas-Dallas's Jasmine Chipps scored in the 67th minute while her team was working against a steady wind. Fredonia State’s Meaghan Meszaros made five saves while Katelynn Flory had six saves in the first half and Brittany Best one save in the second for Texas-Dallas. The Blue Devils had a 19-18 edge in shots. Texas-Dallas had a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks. "We didn't play well in the first half," Fredonia State head coach Chris Case said. "In the second half, we played really well. We had the wind at our back (in the first half) and didn't take advantage." On Friday, Reilly Condidorio scored both goals as the Blue Devils opened its season with a 2-0 victory over Texas-Tyler. Condidorio, a senior, missed all of 2010 because of a knee injury. She wasted little
time finding the touch which had her on pace to set school records in both goals and points prior to the injury. Meszaros made three saves to collect her eighth collegiate shutout. She was fronted by a defensive effort which earned high praise from head coach Chris Case. "We played pretty darn good," Case said. "Coming down here, dealing with the 100 degree heat, we did well and we were very balanced." Condidorio scored her first goal at the 5:19 mark. Gaining control of the ball in the midfield, she dribbled another 10 yards to get away from two defenders then drilled a 35-yard shot over the outstretched reach of the Tyler goalkeeper.
The Blue Devils added insurance at 75:32. That's when Condidorio scored into the lower corner on a shot from hear the penalty-shot spot. Lindsay Putman set up the goal when she ran down a ball in the corner and eluded a defender before passing. Condidorio's goals were her 21st and 22nd as a Blue Devil. She moved up three spots on the all-time Blue Devil list, from No. 8 to No. 5. In addition, she now has 54 career points, seventh most in Blue Devil history. Meszaros was not required to make any difficult saves; all three were on distant shots. Part of the reason was the play of the defensive quartet of Lyz Dembrow, Shannon Letina, Maddie Brown, and Sara Wilczek. "Our back line," Case said, "was the most organized I've ever seen for the first game of a season." The Blue Devils face the University of Rochester at 5 p.m. Friday during the home tournament, the Clarion Classic. Penn State Behrend and Mount Union meet in the other women's game.
Freshmen Lead Bona Runners At 5k Duals Contributed Article
St. Bonaventure Sports Information
EMMITSBURG, Md. — Freshman Hannah Robinson finished 14th overall in her first collegiate cross country race and classmate Nick Masiello led the men's team, as St. Bonaventure opened the 2011 season at the Mount St. Mary's 5k Duals on Friday. Robinson completed the 5,000 meter
course in just 19:27.15 to guide the Bonnies to a fifth place showing, ahead of A-10 rival George Washington, among six teams. Fellow first years Emily Steves (19:45.60) and Sarah Mars (19:52.26) placed 22nd and 24th overall, respectively. Former women's lacrosse player Catie Greene (20:49.66) and freshman Taylor Greene (no relation, 21:31.66) rounded out the Bonnies' top five.
On the men's side, Masiello paced SBU with a clocking of 16:18:31 that earned 42nd in his first to lead a crop of freshmen in the Bona top five. Classmate Harley Thompson (16:37.97) was 57th with Steven Kibbe (16:49.38) two spots back. Nick Taylor (17:45.52) and Dan Myers (18:07.84) completed the youth movement for the sixth-place Bonnies. St. Bonaventure returns to action Sept. 17 at the UB Stampede Invitational in Buffalo, N.Y.