Empire 8 Athletes of The Week: Sept. 9, 2013
Football and women's golf enjoyed its first round of competition this past week as Empire 8 student-athletes continued their winning ways in the early part of the 2013 season.
Football Offensive Player – Buffalo State
Casey Kacz, Senior, QB – Amherst, NY/Sweet Home
Senior Casey Kacz accounted for 344 yards of total offense in Buffalo State’s 41-28 victory over defending NJAC Champion and 2012 NCAA tournament representative Cortland State. Kacz rushed for 118 yards on 17 attempts and three scores (1, 5, and 13 yds) and completed 19-of-29 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns (3 and 37 yds). It marked the second straight and 11th win overall in program history over Cortland in 30 games.
Football Defensive Player – Hartwick
RJ Roth, Senior, Defensive End – Cornwall, NY/Cornwall
R.J. Roth was part of a staunch defensive effort in Hartwick's 33-7 opening day victory over Husson. Making his first start at defensive end after switching from linebacker and after missing the 2012 season with an injury, Roth made 12 tackles (9 solo), four tackles for losses, and one sack. His efforts limited the Husson offense to just 147 yards on the day.
Football Special Teams Player – Salisbury
Kyle Hamby, Junior, Punter – Laurel, MD/Good Counsel
Hamby was instrumental for Salisbury in a low-scoring, field-position game. The junior punter averaged 45.6 yards on six punting opportunities, sending three inside the 20-yard line, while also putting up a 70-yard boot in the first half against Christopher Newport.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – Ithaca
Danielle Coiro, Junior, Forward – Totowa, NJ/Passaic Valley
Junior Danielle Coiro had the best stretch of her collegiate career this past week, helping the Bombers to a 2-0 record. She scored twice and added an assist in Ithaca's 5-2 win over Oswego before scoring another pair of goals in the Bombers' 9-0 win over Morrisville. Coiro has now set career highs in points, goals and assists.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Utica
Kells Casey, Sophomore, Goalie – Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy
Kells Casey helped Utica to a 1-1 record this past week, allowing just three goals in a span of 105 minutes. She made a season-high 12 saves in Utica’s loss to No. 18 Rochester on Sunday. She played the first half against Morrisville on Wednesday and wasn’t called on to make a save. On the season, she has a 1.56 goals against average and .789 save percentage.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – Stevens
Michael Cahill, Senior – Clark, NJ/Union Catholic
The Stevens Institute of Technology men's cross country team came in third overall at Vassar College's Ron Stonitsch Invitational on Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. with 62 total points. Senior Michael Cahill was a top five runner on the 6K course with a time of 19:52.75. Cahill came in fourth overall and was 15 seconds off the pace setter.
Women’s Cross Country Runner - Utica
Ashton Villeneuve, Sophomore – Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent
Ashton Villeneuve repeats as the E8 Runner of the Week after shattering the Utica College record for a 5,000 meter cross country race while leading her team to victory at Cobleskill's Steven A. Warde Invitational. The sophomore opened up a gap of 1:09 over her nearest competitor as she cruised to a convincing first place finish in a time of 17:55 (5:46 pace). Villeneuve's time bested the previous 5k school record of 18:29 by 34 seconds.
Men’s Golf Athlete – St. John Fisher
Thad Wier, Junior – East Aurora, NY/East Aurora
Thad Wier was the top finisher in the St. John Fisher Invitational held this past weekend at Stafford Country Club. Fisher won the tournament and Wier was the only player under par after shooting (-1) 71-72. He birdied the 36th hole to win by one stroke.
Women’s Golf Athlete – Ithaca
Sharon Li, Junior – Happy Valley, Hong Kong/Hong Kong International
Sharon Li posted consecutive rounds of 2-over-par 74 to take the individual honors with a score of 148, four shots better than two players who tied for second at the St. Lawrence Invitational. Li's totals helped the Bombers to the team championship at the event, as Ithaca totaled school-record team scores for a single round (311 on Saturday) and for a two-round tournament (631).
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Nazareth
Ryan Foley, Senior, Midfield – Waterford, Ireland/De La Salle College
Ryan Foley scored three goals for the Golden Flyers last week as Nazareth split a pair of non-conference matches. He scored the only goal in Nazareth's 2-1 loss at Cortland last Tuesday and then added a pair of goals Saturday as Nazareth downed Oswego 3-2. Foley's early-season success has moved him into the Nazareth top 10 in career scoring. He has 59 career points on 20 goals and 19 assists.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – Houghton
Jared Toth, Junior, Defender – Victor, NY/Victor
Jared Toth anchored the defensive effort which led to two shutouts on the weekend (1-0 over Buffalo State, and 4-0 over SUNY Fredonia) leading the team to the SUNY Fredonia Clarion Showcase championship. Toth was recognized as the tournament MVP.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player – Ithaca
Kelsey King, Sophomore, Midfield – Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh
Sophomore Kelsey King continued to provide offensive punch for the Bombers this past week. King scored the opening goal in Ithaca's 2-0 win over No. 2 Emory, giving her a goal in three-straight games to start the season. Two of her goals this season have been game-winners.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive –Stevens
Caitlyn Labonte, Senior, Defense – Northbridge, MA/Northbridge
Senior Caitlyn Labonte was named the Engineering Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player as Stevens finished 1-1 in the tournament. She anchored the Stevens backline that allowed just 10 shots in two games this weekend. The Ducks suffered a tough 2-1 overtime loss to Vassar on Saturday before Labonte locked down numerous runs by NYU and diverted any possibility of one-on-one chances throughout the contest in a 2-0 win over the Violets on Sunday.
Women’s Tennis Player - Nazareth
Alison Tepas, Senior – Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park
Alison Tepas went unbeaten in both singles and doubles as Nazareth went 2-1 in three dual matches. She was responsible for both Nazareth points in a 7-2 non-league loss at Geneseo last Thursday as she won at first singles (6-2, 6-4) and first doubles (8-3). She also won E8 singles and doubles matches against Hartwick and Utica over the weekend.
Women’s Volleyball Player – Stevens
Samantha Gates, Senior, Setter – Wilmington, NC/John T Hoggard
Senior Samantha Gates led Stevens to a 6-0 week with 222 total assists and was named the Vassar Invitational MVP. Gates highlighted her week with 53 assists in a five-set win over MIT on 9/7. Stevens is 9-0 on the season and picked up a win against No. 24 SUNY Cortland.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – Utica
Brandi Blaszak, Freshman, MH/OH – Marcy, NY/Whitesboro
Brandi Blaszak led the Pioneers with 28 kills, ten blocks and 38 points as Utica went 2-1 last week. Her best performance was a 14 kill, five block performance against Wells College on Saturday.