PHOTO GALLERY OF WAGNER-ALBANY...IN THE SNOW

FINAL STATS
 
Staten Island, NY – Wagner gave first-place Albany a fight before the Great Danes pulled away for a 24-0 victory in a Northeast Conference (NEC) battle played in blizzard-like conditions at Wagner College Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 1-7 on the season, 1-4 in NEC play while the Great Danes improve to 6-2 overall, 5-2 in conference. Wagner has now dropped seven straight games while Albany extends is winning streak to six.
 
Sophomore running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Bridgeton) rushed for 145 yards on a career-high 34 carries, eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the fifth time this season and ninth time in his 16-game Seahawk career.
 
Albany running back Andrew Smith rushed for 148 yards, 48 of which came on a third quarter burst that lead to a touchdown, on 23 carries. Great Dane quarterback Dan Di Lella, who has copped NEC Offensive Player of the Week honors the last two weeks, saw his high octane aerial show derailed by a combination of the weather and Wagner's stout defense, finished 6-of-11 passing for 53 yards.
 
Smith broke the scoreless tie on a one-yard touchdown run with 11:46 remaining in the first half which capped an 11-play 45-yard drive as both offenses were slowed by the rapidly deteriorating conditions that featured a white coating of snow on the field that made for a slippery footing on the FieldTurf.
 
The Great Danes took that 7-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. That's the way the score remained until late in the third quarter when Smith shook loose for a 48-yard run up the right sideline which set up a two-yard touchdown run by Dillon Romain with 2:56 left in the third quarter.
 
A muffed Wagner punt gave Albany the ball at the Seahawk 12 that led to a 23-yard Herb Glass field goal that extended the Great Danes' lead to 17-0. Brandon Baylor then scooped up a Wagner fumble and returned it 38 yards to the Seahawk three-yard line that set up a Romain three-yard TD run that rounded out the day's scoring.
 
Junior quarterback Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic) , who did not attempt his first pass until the second half, wound up 4-of-8 through the air for 25 yards. Doscher did drop back with the intention to pass several times in the first half but pulled the ball down and ran with it each time. The tough-as-nails junior gained 42 yards on 13 rushing attempts but was sacked three times for minus 20 yards, leaving him with a net 20-yard rushing day.
 
Junior linebacker Mike Lombardo (Jupiter, FL/ Jupiter Christian) paced the Seahawks defensively with a game and career-high 12 tackles, including one sack while fellow junior linebacker Carl-Olivier Prime (Quebec, Canada / The Kent School) added 11 stops and a forced fumble.
 
In an annual Wagner Homecoming Day tradition, Williams received the James Robb Memorial Trophy as the game's outstanding Wagner offensive player, and Lombardo was recognized with the Lt. Nick Lia Memorial Trophy as the Seahawks' outstanding defensive player. Williams upped his season rushing total to 897 yards, leaving him just 103 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark with three games to go. Together with 149 receiving yards and another 108 in punt returns, Williams is far and away the team leader in all-purpose yards with 1,154. A tradition at Homecoming for the past 21 years continued on Saturday as the Wagner College Athletics Hall of Fame welcomed five new members. In a morning ceremony at the Spiro Sports Center, the Class of 2011 was formally enshrined: Jennifer Albrizio (Softball, '85), John Chaney (Football, '88), Andy Fellouris (Football, '86), Frank Gunther (Golf, '64) and Milan Rikic (Basketball, '95). To view biographies of the Hall of Famers click HERE.
 
Wagner is next in action on Saturday, November 5 when the Seahawks host Sacred Heart in a 1:00 pm contest on Senior Day. The Seahawks will then close out the 2011 campaign with road tilts at Robert Morris (11/12) and at Monmouth (11/19).
 
NOTES - At times, the weather conditions during the game were surreal with the snow falling sideways by the more than 20-mile per hour northeast wind whipping through the stadium. During stoppages in play and all through halftime, Wagner grounds crew personnel successfully kept the playing surface playable through a combination of the use of a snow plow and some hearty staffers wielding angry shovels. For those of a certain vintage, the scene evoked memories of the infamous “Snowplow Game”, a part of National Football League yore that featured a game played between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots on December 12, 1982. In the waning seconds of a scoreless tie in Foxborough, MA, with Dolphin Hall of Fame coach Don Shula protesting furiously, a clean path was plowed for placekicker John Smith who then booted a 33-yard field goal, lifting the Patriots to a 3-0 win.