ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University football team lost to Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon, 0-34 in Yunevich Stadium, in non-conference action, despite both teams not showing any big offensive plays.
 
The Saxons (0-3, 0-0 Empire 8) were shut out for the first time by the Bombers since the 2004 meeting where they lost 0-24. Despite this, both teams' offenses couldn't get the best of each other's defenses in the first quarter, going scoreless. "Despite the results of today's game I thought our team showed a lot of composure and kept fighting for four quarters," Head Coach Bob Rankl said. "We need to encourage them to continue to do that. We have played three good teams so far and unfortunately things have not gone our way. We need to keep grinding and believe in the process and work towards being 1-0 next week. Success is an expectation in this football program and we will get better."
 
The ultimately game-winning score also came off of the longest scoring play of the day as Ithaca's A.J. Wingfield threw a 21-yard TD to Michael Anderson in the opening minutes of the second quarter to go up 6-0 as Nicholas Bahamonde missed the PAT after being pushed back due to a false start.
 
Ithaca's offense ended the day amassing 551 yards of total offense in comparison to Alfred's 186 yards. AU had 97 yards through the air, going 12-for-38 with two interceptions and added 89 yards on the ground from 20 carries. Connor Englert (Dansville, NY/Wayland-Cohocton) got the start at quarterback for the Saxons and played every snap as he also led the team in rushing with 40 yards on five attempts. Englert's offensive line kept the Bomber defense at bay, not allowing a single sack on the day.
 
Keandre Sanders (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Ludden) was the hot target for the Saxons as he snagged five passes for a total of 59 yards, finishing with the second most receiving yards in the game, including a long of 15.
 
The Alfred University defense saw the majority of minutes on the day and it showed in the stat line. The most tackles by an Ithaca player was six as Stephen Soravilla had four solo stops and two assisted. Alfred University had seven players match and/or beat that number as they were led by the efforts of Christopher Cox (Rochester, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland) with his 10 solo and two assisted tackles for 12 total. He also forced a fumble while also bringing down Bombers twice in the backfield, once on a solo performance and another as the defense mobbed past the line of scrimmage.
 
Wyatt Kiff (Sidney, NY/Sidney Central) also broke into the double-digits with 10 tackles (six solo) and also had a team-high three pass breakups.
 
The Saxons will next take to the road for another long trip, having just taken one last weekend to Cincinnati, OH. They will travel to Kalamazoo, MI to take on Kalamazoo College on Saturday, September 25 at noon before going into their bye week.