ALBANY, N.Y.- Despite closing to within two in the final minutes of the game, Monmouth University (3-8, 3-5 NEC) fell to The University at Albany (6-5, 4-4 NEC) 28-19 in the 2010 season finale Saturday.
Four second half turnovers doomed the Hawks, who are now 4-9 all-time against the Great Danes.
With 6:06 remaining in regulation and by eight, Kyle Frazier (Gaithersburg, Md./Damascus) orchestrated an eight-play 75 yard drive that culminated in a three yard L.J. Caprio (North Caldwell, N.J./West Essex Regional) TD score to cut the lead to 21-19. The key play on the drive was a Frazier to Mike McLafferty (Morgan, N.J./War Memorial) 22-yard pass, in which the redshirt freshman tight end spun away from two tacklers to set the Hawks up on the UA three yard line. The score was Caprio's ninth of the season. On the two point attempt Frazier's pass was just high for the outstretched McLafferty and MU was left trailing by two with 3:09 to play.
MU's onside kick attempt was recovered by Albany but MU's defense forced a three-and-out and the Hawks got the ball back at their own 12 with 2:37 to play. Frazier was sacked on first down, had a ball batted down on second and third down setting up a fourth and 13 from the eight. Frazier connected with Matt Plautz (Harmony, Pa./Seneca) on the next play for a 12 yard gain setting up a fresh set of downs from the MU 28. Two plays later Frazier fumbled while escaping pressure and Albany's Jon Morgan picked up the ball and ran it untouched to the endzone to put the Great Danes ahead 28-19. Frazier was intercepted on MU's final drive with UA running the ball out for the victory.
Albany sophomore Andrew Smith scored the first points of the day on a one yard TD plunge that he set up himself with a 44 yard fake punt one play earlier. Smith's seventh rushing score of the year put the Great Danes up 7-0 with 10:03 to play in the first quarter.
The Hawks mounted a great drive late in the first quarter with Frazier going five of eight on the drive for 38 yards through the air. With a pair of first down passes to Tyler George (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Gov. Livingston) setting them up with a first and goal from the four, a high snap on second down forced a third and goal from the nine. Two plays later Spillane hit a 25 yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-4 with 12:49 to play. The drive went 84 yards on 17 plays covering 7:27 of game time.
Special teams woes struck again as UA freshman Dillon Romain returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the MU 42 yardline. Two plays later Leathley hit Ryan Kirshner for a 28 yard completion to set up a 10 run Ben Miseikis touchdown run on the following play. The Albany drive covered 42 yards on three plays and took just one minute off the clock.
MU caught a break when Albany punted into a whipping wind from its own 30, with the ball going just seven yards. The Hawk drive stalled but a 33 yard Eric Spillane field goal gave MU another three points, working Albany's advantage down to 14-6 with 5:59 to play in the half.
Trailing 14-6 to start the second half, a quirky play gave the Hawks the ball despite kicking off. Spillane's kickoff hung up in the wind and the ball bounced back right into the hand s of Jose Gumbs (Queens, N.Y./Hebron Academy) who was hustling down on kick coverage. Taking over from the Albany 30, Frazier hit Plautz on a 17 yard comeback route to move into the. Three plays later Frazier scampered into the endzone untouched from the four, for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
Another disastrous kick coverage effort gave the Great Danes great field position with a 15 yard facemask penalty getting tacked on from the end. UA drove down to the MU one but couldn't get in on four tries and the Hawks took over from their own one. On the very next play Frazier fumbled from his own one with Albany pouncing on the loose ball. It took two plays for the Great Danes to capitalize on the mistake, with Leathley scoring on a keeper from a yard out on second down to put UA up 21-13 with 8:01 to play in the third frame.
A Mike Kelly interception ended a Monmouth drive at the Albany 27, with the senior defensive end rumbling to the MU 35. The interception was just the fifth of the season thrown by Frazier.
Two drives later Albany drove down to the MU 10 yard line but the Hawk defense held once again, forcing Leathley to scramble on fourth and goal where he was dropped at the MU nine. The Hawks couldn't turn the defensive stop into a drive, as the offense was forced to punt on after a three-and-out effort.
Frazier finished 20-of-40 passing for 219 yards with a season-high two interceptions and two fumbles. Caprio led the Hawks on the ground with 18 carries for 40 yards with the one touchdown. Plautz led all MU receivers with five grabs for 70 yards while George had four catches for 35. MU held a 32:24-27:36 time of possession advantage while outgaining the Great Danes 321-237 but had a season high four turnovers.
Defensively, Monmouth was led by Gumbs who had nine tackles including 1.5 for a loss. Dave Ogden (Wayne, N.J./Wayne) had eight tackles while linebacker Chris Mastrangelo (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) also had nine tackles and a sack for the Hawks.
Leathley was 9-of-15 for 83 yards, 52 of which were to Kirchner. Andrew Smith led all rushers with 15 carries for 79 yards with a long of 44 on the fake punt. Romain had 71 yards on 18 carries but did more damage with his 85 yards on two kickoff returns. Jake Ciccarello led all players with 10 tackles while Kelly had nine stops including a sack and an interception.
