Junior forward Eric Nestler fires a shot from inside the blue line. The Buffalo hockey team will look to rebound this season after being eliminated in the first round of playoffs last year.
Former linebacker Khalil Mack and the rest of recently graduated senior class broke several school records and helped lead a banner year for UB athletics, as many teams enjoyed success, including the football team, which made its second ever bowl game.
Shawn Burke will begin his first season as head coach of the women?s soccer team. The first-year head coach spent five years prior as the assistant to former head coach Michael Thomas.
A motorcycle accident during the height of his playing career hampered Sunahara's chances at making the U.S. Olympic team.
Shannon Evans was an electrifying asset coming off the bench for the men?s basketball team last season as a freshman.
The Buffalo wrestling team has been banned from postseason play for the 2014-15 season. The NCAA's committee on academic performance informed the Bulls of the ban, which is due to low Academic Progress Rate scores. At this time, the team is unsure if the ban is for just the NCAA Wrestling Championships or for the Mid-American Conference Championships as well, according to an Athletics Department spokesman.
The baseball team has found itself in a familiar situation. Three straight games have resulted in three straight losses, this time from Mid-American Conference leading Miami Ohio (26-25, 15-9 MAC). The Bulls (22-22, 12-11 MAC) lost 5-4 on Sunday.
Buffalo softball's historic season came to a finish Saturday. The Bulls (30-22) lost to Ohio (32-24) 4-0 in the Mid-American Championship game Saturday.
Think of the prototypical pitcher. What comes to mind is probably a strong-armed thrower who launches 95-mph fastballs that leave batters swinging at air, not realizing the ball has already smacked into the catcher's mitt, the kind of pitcher that 'wows' fans and scouts with incredible velocity and racks up K's. The power pitcher is what every baseball team looks for in an ace.
For Najja Johnson, it happened during a scout team scrimmage in 2009. For Jeff Quinn, it was during 2009-10 winter conditioning. For Fred Lee, it was during a game at Tennessee in 2011. Everyone who's been around the University at Buffalo football program the past four years has had a moment of epiphany: the sudden realization that Khalil Mack was Khalil Mack.
Though UB Athletics claimed two Mid-American Conference East titles and made a bowl game in 2013-14, perhaps its greatest victory came in the realm of fundraising. April 19, prior to the football team's annual spring game, UB alum and donor Tunney Murchie put an exclamation point on the year, surprising the program by donating $3 million - the biggest donation in school history - toward improvements to the football headquarters at the south end of the West Grandstand of UB Stadium.
It has been a season of firsts for the Buffalo softball team. The Bulls have won the most games in program history and claimed their first-ever Mid-American Conference East regular season title. They took a step toward another first Wednesday with a victory in the opening game of the MAC Tournament. The Bulls (28-20, 11-5 MAC) defeated Northern Illinois (22-30, 10-12 MAC), 11-6, in Akron, Ohio.
Last season, the softball team did not score its 29th run until its 14th game. This season, the team accomplished that feat in two games. Buffalo's hot start, in which it began the season 6-0, set a precedent for a new era and mindset under first-year head coach Trena Peel - a mindset that has helped the team win the most games in program history and claim its first-ever Mid-American Conference East title. After a historic regular season, the Bulls (27-20, 11-5 MAC) will make their third-ever MAC Tournament appearance Wednesday as the No.
James Starks' historic career at the University at Buffalo began because he never wanted to leave the area. The Niagara Falls native wanted to set a precedent.
The final home game for the men's tennis team was its most important match. The Bulls were fighting for the fourth and final seed for the Mid-American Conference tournament and needed all the support they could get. The Bulls trailed 3-2 after the first five decisions and needed to sweep the final two matches to earn the victory.
When the men's lacrosse team made it to the first round of the playoffs, it knew both phases of its game would need to be superb to escape with a victory.
Solutions by The State News
