BUFFALO, NY – Buffalo State (4-11, 2-6 SUNYAC) will make its first SUNYAC playoff appearance since the 2012 season when it travels to Geneseo on Tuesday at 4 p.m. for a quarterfinal contest.
Despite falling to nationally ranked No. 4 Cortland to close out the regular season this past Saturday, the Bengals qualified for the postseason as the No. 6 seed. Buffalo State will take on the No. 3 seeded Knights who earned a 15-4 victory over the Bengals during the regular season.
Buffalo State has scored 167 goals this season. The Bengals shot percentage of .449 ranks them second overall in the conference and they are third overall for saves per game with 9.50.
Freshman Alanna Herne (Tonawanda, NY/Tonawanda) has had a tremendous rookie season for the Bengals, leading the offense with 72 points off a team-high 47 goals and 25 assists. Her shooting percentage is .485 and she has tallied 25 ground balls. Herne currently ranks third overall in the SUNYAC for points per game (4.50), fifth for shots per game (6.06), seventh for goals per game (2.94) and eighth for assists per game (1.56).
Junior Sarah Lorusso (Lakeview, NY/Frontier) is second on the team with 49 points off 39 goals and 10 assists. Lorusso leads the team with 38 ground balls, 21 caused turnovers and 49 draw controls. She also ranks ninth in the conference in draw controls per game with 3.06. Senior Meghan Farrell (Endicott, NY/Union Endicott) has recorded 31 points, while seniors Alexis Wilensky (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) and Kendra Thomas (Painted Post, NY/Corning West) have tallied 21 points and 17 points, respectively.
Senior Colleen George (Johnson City, NY/Maine-Endwell) has played in between the pipes for the Bengals in 14 games. The goalkeeper has recorded 115 saves in 776:50. Her goals against average is currently 14.60 and her save percentage is .438. George is third in the conference for saves per game with 8.21 and eighth in save percentage.
With a victory, Buffalo State would advance to the SUNYAC semifinals and travel to face No. 2 Fredonia on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
