With Halloween and the end of October just around the corner, Buffalo State athletics is gearing up for a pivotal weekend as two teams are chasing top playoff seeds, men's and women's swimming and diving opens its season at home, football plays at Coyer Field on Saturday in a regionally-broadcasted game and volleyball hits the road for another round of SUNYAC play.

Keep reading for everything you need to know about a jam-packed, Buffalo State athletics weekend!
 
Women's Soccer
Women's soccer (12-1-2, 7-0) returns home to Coyer Field this weekend with a chance to secure the top seed in the SUNYAC playoffs.

Buffalo State hosts Oneonta on Friday at 3 p.m. and will welcome New Paltz on Saturday at 4 p.m., following the football game against Utica. 

A win in either match will clinch the top seed in the conference.  The Bengals have already secured a first-round bye in the SUNYAC playoffs and currently sit as the No. 22 ranked team in the country. 

The Bengals have been lead all season on offense by Melissa Smith and Catherine Mammoser.  Smith leads the Bengals in scoring and is third in the SUNYAC in total points with nine goals and four assists for 22 points.  Mammoser has five goals and has chipped in four assists.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bengals are backstopped by freshman keeper Taylor Carillo.  Carillo already set the school-record for shutouts in a row and scoreless streak, and is just one clean sheet away from tying the school record for shutouts in a season.

The Bengals haven't lost a regular-season match to a conference opponent since Oct. 18, 2014.

Admission to all Buffalo State soccer events is free, including both women's soccer matches this weekend!

If you can't make it in person, you can still cheer on the Bengals with live streams of Friday's and Saturday's matches here.
 
Men's Soccer
Men's soccer (10-4-1, 5-2) has also locked up its spot in the SUNYAC playoffs, but is still battling for a top seed as it wraps up its season on the road.

The Bengals are looking for a strong end to their regular season with matches on Friday at Oneonta at 3 p.m. and Saturday at New Paltz at 1 p.m. 

Buffalo State currently sits in third place in the SUNYAC, just one point behind Oneonta for second, but could finish anywhere from second to fifth in the final standings based on what happens this weekend.

The Bengals have already reached double-digit wins for the second-consecutive season as well as back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since 1983 and 1984.

Sophomore forward Bass Sarr has continued his red-hot scoring pace, leading the conference with 11 goals and 24 points in 13 games played.  Tristan Myers sits in a tie for third in the SUNYAC in scoring, right behind Sarr with six goals and six assists for 18 points.

Goalkeeper William Banahene is fourth in the conference in goals against average (0.77) and save percentage (.828). 

You can watch Friday's showdown with Oneonta here, and follow along with Saturday's match against New Paltz here.
 
Men and Women's Swimming and Diving
Both the men's and women's swimming and diving team kick off their 2016-17 schedule with a home opening meet against Wells College this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Kissinger Pool.

The men's team is led by preseason All-American Connor Mergler (50 and 100 free). 

Mergler became Buffalo State's first swimming All-American since 1976 last season as a sophomore, collecting the honor three times at the NCAA Championships. 

As a team, the men finished 2-2-1 last year and seventh at the SUNYAC championships.

The women's team went 2-3 and also finished seventh at the SUNYAC championships.

Results and recaps for both meets against Wells will be available afterwards on buffalostateathletics.com.
 
Football
Football (4-2, 2-2 Empire 8) is looking to make it three wins in a row as it returns home to Coyer field to take on Utica (5-2, 3-2) in an Empire 8 showdown on Saturday at noon. 

In its last two games, Buffalo State knocked off Cortland, 39-21, and Alfred State, 27-0. 

Since returning to the lineup three weeks ago from injury, junior quarterback Kyle Hoppy has completed 72-of-130 passes for 945 yards and five touchdowns.  He has also 98 yards and four scores on the ground.

Buffalo State prevailed at Utica last season, 28-16, as the Bengals held Utica to just 35 yards rushing and 239 yards of total offense.  Dale Stewart also matched a school record with a 100-yard kick return.

Senior wide receiver Madison Wesolowski had 29 catches in his first three seasons as a Bengal.  This year he leads the Bengals with 33 catches, including a 10-catch game against Otterbein and 11 at Cortland.  Complementing him is junior Stephen Johnson, who ranks among the E8 leaders, averaging 20.4 yards-per-reception this season.  He has 21 grabs for 429 yards and three scores.

Buffalo State ranks third in the Empire 8 with 16 sacks in five games this season.  Billy Carroll is tied for the E8 lead with 4.5 sacks.  He is also third in the league with 7.5 tackles for loss (tied with teammate Cliff Brown).

The game will air live on buffalostateathletics.com and on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel.

You can also follow along with live stats of the game here.
 
Volleyball
Volleyball is headed to Cortland for the weekend to take part in its final round of SUNYAC play, fresh off a straight-set win over Medaille on Wednesday. 

The Bengals take on New Paltz on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by two matches on Saturday.  Buffalo State matches up against Geneseo on Saturday at 10 a.m. and
then against Plattsburgh at 12:30 p.m.

You can watch the match on Friday against New Paltz here and Saturday's against Geneseo here.

Due to the amount of games going on at once during pool play, the match against Plattsburgh will not be available for live streaming.

Results will be available following the matches right here on buffalostateathletics.com.
 
Men and Women's Basketball
The Buffalo State basketball teams are excited to announce that they will host their first-ever edition of the "Bengals Basketball Bash" on Friday, Oct. 21, beginning at 7:15 p.m. in the Sports Arena.  All fans and students are invited to come out and get a first look at Buffalo State basketball for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

The night will include an introduction of the men's and women's basketball team and will feature a 3-point and dunk contest by the players, a spectator challenge for fans, and an intra-squad scrimmage to end the evening. 

The event is free for all students, fans, faculty and staff.  The night will include tons of prizes, gift certificate giveaways to Moe's, Mighty Taco, and Chef's, multiple Bengal t-shirt tosses, and a live DJ.