As snow fell upon Buffalo for the first time this winter, the Bengals remained a busy bunch with nine different teams in action, all to be covered right here on the Buffalo State Sports Round-up.
Men’s and women’s hockey battled on the ice, men’s and women’s basketball tipped off in tough matchups, men’s and women’s cross country (XC) made their way to the NCAA Regionals, women’s wrestling hit the road for a highly-competitive meet, women’s volleyball continued their quest toward a championship, and Bengals football team capped off their 2025-26 season. This week’s slate had it all, but did wins follow? Here’s where we find out.
Women’s Basketball:
The next team to start their season this winter was the women’s basketball team, heading to Alfred University on Tuesday night for a date with the Saxons. Coming off arguably their best season in years, the Bengals seemed eager to ride that wave of momentum into their opening game of 2025.
Their eagerness wasn’t able to translate in the first quarter, as the Bengals couldn’t get anything to fall, putting them at an early 19-point disadvantage. The struggles seemed to fade in the second, as the Bengals stuck with the Saxons to equal their quarter total at 14 apiece. Nonetheless, due to the opening quarter stumble, the Saxons still carried a double-digit lead into the break.
Buffalo State’s effort to cut Alfred’s lead showed from the opening minutes of the third quarter, with a quick 5-0 run. They would each trade buckets throughout the rest of the quarter, not something the Bengals could afford, and by the time the fourth rolled around, the Saxons’ lead had grown to 23 with a late pair of free throws.
The Bengals continued to fight, fight, and fight some more, again equaling Alfred’s quarter total, but the deficit was too much to come back from, handing the Saxons a 67-44 win.
The team’s week didn’t end in Alfred, as they hopped back on the bus to travel to Nazareth University for a Friday night non-conference match-up with the 1-1 Golden Flyers.
Once again, shots weren’t falling for the Bengals in the opening quarter, but they were able to back themselves up with sticky defense to avoid another early deficit. The scoring picked up for each team in the second quarter, keeping things even, but a strong final few minutes by Nazareth brought their lead to ten when halftime hit.
The Bengals and Golden Flyers traded points back and forth for much of the third quarter, with the visitors getting back within single digits, though another strong finish by Nazareth grew their lead back to double figures heading into the final ten minutes.
Similar to the prior game against Alfred, Buffalo State showed no quit in an attempt to climb back into the game, but everything seemed to be clicking for the Golden Flyers, outscoring the Bengals 21-14 in the fourth quarter to seal an 84-64 victory.
The women’s basketball team didn’t get the results they hoped for to open their season, yet showed plenty of grit and toughness, which will be key for them throughout a long season. They begin a three-game homestand on Wednesday night when they welcome the Keuka College Wolves to the Sports Arena.
Men’s & Women’s XC:
Genesee Valley Park was the site for the men’s and women’s XC teams to close out their season, competing in the NCAA Niagara Regional Meet on Saturday.
Freshman Ricky Curiel put a bow on his remarkable first season as a Bengal with a 30th overall finish, at a time of 26:07, leading all Buffalo State men. The exceptional performance earned Curiel All-Region honors, becoming the first member of the men’s team to earn the accolade since Alex Ngabo in 2012, and the first Bengal from either team to earn it since Ronni Kordrupel in 2018.
Another freshman continued to impress on the women’s team as Jorja Smith led the pack yet again with a time of 25:48, though fellow freshman Lexi Hoffman wasn’t far behind, finishing with a time of 26:05.
The men finished 14th overall, matching their best finish in over a decade, with the women’s 18th overall finish marking their best result at Regionals in nearly two decades. A job well done by each team on their biggest stage.
Football:
Desperately searching for a second win, the Bengals football team took the field one last time in 2025 to face the Hobart Statesmen at Hobart’s Boswell Field.
Hobart received the opening kickoff and established their presence quickly. The Statesmen gashed the Bengals with their run game, attempting just one pass on a 73-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. In response, Buffalo State moved the ball well on their opening drive, getting the ball into Hobart territory before stalling out and being forced to punt. However, the punt pinned the Statesmen deep, allowing the Bengal defense to get the team on the board with a safety, giving us a rare 7-2 score at the end of the first quarter.
After a few empty drives, Hobart turned up the heat in the second quarter. With the Bengals unable to get anything going offensively, the Statesmen capitalized with three consecutive touchdown-scoring drives, beating Buffalo State on the ground and through the air. Halftime came, and the Bengals looked down the barrel of a 26-point deficit.
A major comeback was needed for the Bengals, but an opening drive three-and-out followed by another Hobart touchdown seemed to be all she wrote on this day. A fourth-quarter touchdown by freshman running back Jeadi Higdon made the score look a bit better, but regardless, Hobart cruised to a 35-9 win that dropped Buffalo State to a disappointing 1-9 record to close out their season.
That’s a wrap on the Buffalo State football season, ending with just one win in what was a frustrating few months for the program. Expect a motivated pack of Bengals next fall, as they aim to put this season in the rear-view mirror and start fresh.
Men’s Basketball:
Fresh off victory at Keuka to open the season, the Buffalo State men’s basketball team got right back on the saddle this past weekend, making the hour-long trip to the Louis Alexander Palestra to compete in the Rochester Tournament.
The Bengals squared off with the hosting University of Rochester Yellow Jackets on Friday night, which, from the opening tip, proved to be a match-up they were unprepared for.
The Yellow Jackets stormed out to a double-digit lead and never let up for the remainder of the half. The lead grew to as large as 28, but a late surge by the Bengals cut it down to 22 before the half.
Stuck in a seemingly inescapable hole, the Bengals tried to come out with an edge in the second half, but the unrelenting Yellow Jackets continued to do damage on both ends of the floor. With eight minutes still left to play, Rochester’s lead had skyrocketed to a game-high 41, dashing any chances of a Buffalo State comeback. The final buzzer sounded, and the miserable night was finally over for the Bengals, falling 94-56.
Less than 24 hours after a shell-shocking beatdown, the Bengals were back out on the floor at the Louis Alexander Palestra to face Springfield College in the tournament’s consolation game.
Buffalo State’s offensive woes seemed to carry over in the early going, paving the way for Springfield College to create some distance with an offensive onslaught. The more the Bengals attempted to climb back, the more the lead would grow for the Pride as they would take a 20-point lead into the break.
It was more of the same in the second half, with Springfield College maintaining a 30-plus point lead throughout much of the 20 minutes. Shooting 25% from the field and 11% from beyond the arc was never going to cut it for a Bengals comeback, as the Pride rolled to a 76-47 win
A winless weekend was not what the men’s basketball team had planned, though they have the opportunity to get right back on track with their home opener on Tuesday night against Alfred State.
Women’s Hockey:
This past weekend marked the women’s hockey team’s first road trip, coming off the heels of consecutive weekend homestands. They began the road trip at Potsdam, hitting the ice to face the SUNY Potsdam Bears in their first State of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) match-up of the season.
The game got off to as even a start as one could think, with each team pushing the pace and seeing goal opportunities, neither defense nor goaltender broke, keeping it a scoreless tie at the first intermission.
The Bengals and Bears ran into similar issues in the second period, neither offense being able to find the back of the net against a sturdy defense. That was until the 18:58 mark, where Buffalo State struck gold with the first goal of the evening, scored by freshman forward Taylor Masterson. With little time remaining, the Bengals attempted to add on to the lead, coming up empty in the process. Nonetheless, they took a one-goal lead into the second intermission.
The missed shots piled up early in the third period, the Bengals looking to add an insurance goal, while the Bears pushed for the equalizer. Buffalo State beat SUNY Potsdam to the punch, scoring a rare short-handed goal at the 8:43 mark to take a commanding two-goal lead. Then, disaster came upon the Bengals.
Soon after falling behind by two, the Bears put their foot on the gas, scoring two goals in a 23-second span to tie the game and take the Bengals by surprise. With just under ten minutes left, the game had been flipped upside down.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. With 47 seconds to go, SUNY Potsdam’s Jalynn Castro found the back of the net to give the Bears their first, and only, lead of the game. Taylor Masterson shot for the tie in the final seconds, but goaltender Magalie Parent called the game with one last save – stunning the Bengals.
In need of a major rebound following the previous day’s events, the Bengals packed up and hit the second leg of their road trip at Plattsburgh, facing off with the Cardinals.
The negative energy from the loss to SUNY Potsdam appeared to travel with the Bengals, as Plattsburgh State found the net within the first 10 minutes to force the visitors to play from behind. The Buffalo State defensive unit strapped down from there, keeping the Cardinals off the board for the rest of the period and beyond. The only issue was that the offensive unit couldn’t find a way to get the puck on their side of the ice, the Cardinals ate up time in the Bengals’ defensive zone, ultimately killing the Bengals’ chances of victory.
The Bengals fought tooth and nail for shot opportunities the few times they found themselves with the puck in the late stages, but Plattsburgh State snuffed each one of them out to seal a home win, handing the Bengals their third loss in a row and an 0-2 start to conference play.
It proved to be a frustrating and disappointing weekend on the road for the women’s hockey team, though they have a great opportunity to find some wins this upcoming weekend back on home ice against SUNY Canton and Oswego State.
Men’s Hockey:
Buffalo State’s men’s hockey team took a road trip over the weekend, starting at Cortland on Friday, a team that shared the same 2-2 record as the Bengals.
The Bengals opened with a pair of missed shots, opening the door for the Red Dragons to strike quickly with a goal in just the fourth minute. Not long after, sophomore Jason Kwestel knotted the game up with a 10th-minute goal. Each team knocked in another goal before the first 20 minutes finished, making the score 2-2 at the first intermission.
The scoring didn’t come as fast and furious in the second period, as the first goal wasn’t scored until halfway through. At that mark, Buffalo State’s Michael Marquez netted his second goal of the game to give the Bengals the one-goal advantage. Cortland came back with the game-tying goal minutes later, following up with a goal in the final minute to retake the lead ahead of the third period.
The third period is where the Red Dragons let loose, netting three more goals to put the Bengals down and out. The final score read 7-3 Cortland, holding down home ice and putting Buffalo State into a two-game losing streak and behind the eight ball in SUNYAC play. The following night, the Bengals traveled to play SUNY Morrisville, aiming to end the losing streak in a hurry.
Buffalo State maintained possession of the puck for the majority of the opening period, attempting 17 shots over the course of the 20 minutes, but couldn’t get past Mustangs goaltender Chad Lowe. The second period was almost identical until the final minute, when Bengals freshman Aaron Andrade finally got the puck behind Lowe to score the first goal of the game.
The Bengals spent most of the third period shooting at will, but again, they couldn’t find a way to break through the outstanding goaltending from SUNY Morrisville’s Chad Lowe. The Mustangs emptied the net in the final two minutes and were rewarded with a soul-crushing game-tying goal with 14 seconds left. And the game was on to overtime, the Bengals’ second straight Saturday playing extra minutes.
Contrary to the rest of the game, SUNY Morrisville controlled the puck for the majority of the five-minute period, and despite nearly double-digit shot attempts, they came up empty due to the great work in goal by Bengals freshman Ben Dardis. The overtime period was over, and now it was time for a shootout, where the Mustangs prevailed, winning 2-1.
The losing streak has extended to three for the men’s hockey team, but there’s plenty of hockey still left to be played this season. The team will look to change their luck when they face Fredonia in the “Battle By The Lake” on Friday night.
Women’s Volleyball:
It was time for postseason action for the women’s volleyball team, continuing the week’s trend of road games with a trip to Fredonia for a special win-or-go-home “Battle By The Lake” match-up against the Blue Devils, a team that swept the Bengals a month prior.
Both teams came out with an edge in the opening set, trading the lead back and forth until the very end. A massive four-point run by Fredonia gave them some breathing room, and despite a late comeback attempt by the Bengals, the Blue Devils hung on 25-23.
In serious need of a statement set, Buffalo State exploded out of the gate with a five-point run. A pair of rallies and another five-point outburst followed, clinching the set for the Bengals dominantly, setting up a pivotal third set.
The Blue Devils take a page out of the Bengals’ book, taking a commanding lead to open the frame. They maintained the lead throughout the set, adding on a four-point run down the stretch to close it out and take the 2-1 match lead – the Bengals’ backs were now against the wall.
With their season hanging in the balance, the Bengals slowed down Fredonia’s momentum, keeping the set within arm’s length throughout. A four-point surge by the Blue Devils one-upped a three-point rally by the Bengals, though Buffalo State answered right back with another rally. The back and forth continued, but a late three-point rally by the Bengals sealed the deal, tying the match and forcing a season-deciding fifth and final set.
In a similar fashion to the second set, the Bengals stormed out to a lead – a lead they would never lose control of. Fredonia fought for their season, but the Bengals were just too much to handle, taking the set 15-9 and advancing to the SUNYAC Tournament semi-finals with a revenge-filled rivalry victory.
Standing in the way of Buffalo State and the SUNYAC Tournament championship was the top-seeded Cortland Red Dragons, making the Bengals the ultimate underdogs in this highly anticipated semi-final match.
The opening set appeared to be going the underdogs’ way, that was until Cortland went on a six-point run to take control and never let up. The Bengals stuck around, but were no match for the goliath-like Red Dragons. 1-0 in favor of the favorites.
A seven-point run got Cortland out to an early lead in the second set, again, never looking back. Like they have all year long, the Bengals battled until the end of the set, though the result was the same as the first set. 2-0 Red Dragons.
If the Bengals were going down, they prepared to go down swinging, as they jumped out to a strong start in the third set. Quickly, Cortland swung momentum in their favor with four-point run after four-point run to put the Bengals down, ending their season with a sweep.
A fall postseason of heartbreak for Buffalo State now includes the women’s volleyball team, but like the men’s and women’s soccer teams, they plan to be back at their absolute best come next season.
It was a week to forget in Buffalo State athletics, with too many losses to count. However, there are more games to come and bounce-back wins to collect next week. Be ready to see exactly that next week on the Buffalo State Sports Round-up.
