E8 Athletes of the Week: October 13
Competition is as tight as ever in the conference this season, leading to some outstanding performances by Empire 8 student-athletes during the week of Oct. 6-12, 2014. Those earning weekly honors include...
Football Offensive Player – Utica
Anthony Acevedo, Senior, WR – New Hartford, NY/New Hartford
Senior wide receiver Anthony Acevedo caught eight passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns as the Pioneers lost to Salisbury on Saturday. Acevedo eclipsed 3,000 receiving yards for his career as he now has 3,006 in just under four seasons at UC. He also became the first player in school-history to catch over 200 career passes, as he now has 205. His 178 yards receiving is the 4th most receiving yards in a single game in program-history.
Football Defensive Player – Buffalo State
Mitch Thomas, Junior, FS – Buffalo, NY/Sweet Home
Mitch Thomas had a team-best 11 tackles to go with a pair of interceptions in Buffalo State's 38-27 victory at No. 13 Ithaca on Saturday. His first interception came in the end zone in the second quarter, thwarting an Ithaca scoring opportunity, and keeping the deficit just 17-7. After a Bengals' comeback, his second interception, early in the fourth quarter, put the game out of reach when he returned it 26 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 38-17 lead.
Football Special Teams Player – Salisbury
Kyle Hamby, Senior, Punter – Laurel, MD/Good Counsel
Kyle Hamby was called upon five times on Saturday in Salisbury's contest with Utica. Hamby's five punts averaged 37.8 yards with one coming down inside the 20-yard line and a long of 42 yards.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – Utica
Hannah Mackey, Senior, Forward – Locke, NY/Moravia
Senior Hannah Mackey scored seven goals and set new Empire 8 single-season records for goals (28) and points (61) as Utica went 3-0 last week. On Wednesday, she tied her season-high of four goals in UC’s 6-1 win over Brockport. She followed that up with two goals in the Pioneers’ 3-2 win over Ithaca on Saturday. Mackey capped off the week with the opening goal in a 4-1 win over Stevens.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Hartwick
Yanna Boggio, Freshman, Goalie – Amherst, NY/Amherst
Yanna Boggio made 35 saves this week for Hartwick in three games over a span of 221:23 minutes. She began the week stopping eight shots in a 4-1 loss to Union on Tuesday. On Saturday, she helped Hartwick to double overtime in a 2-1 loss to Washington & Jefferson. Against the Presidents, she made 15 saves, including six in the overtime periods. On Sunday, she made 12 stops to help the Hawks to their first E8 win, 3-2, over Elmira.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – Ithaca
Paul Lapre, Sophomore – Middleboro, MA/Coyle and Cassidy
Paul Lapre helped guide Ithaca to a first place finish out of 17 teams at the Hamilton Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 11. Lapre earned a personal best time of 26:46.1 to finish 15th overall out of 177 runners.
Women’s Cross Country Runner – Utica
Ashton Villeneuve, Junior – Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent
Junior Ashton Villeneuve continued her impressive season Saturday at the Hamilton Invitational with a seventh place finish out of 161 runners to lead Utica College. Villeneuve clocked a final time of 18:04.
Men’s Golf Athlete – Moravian
Kevin Kunkle, Freshman – Walnutsport, PA/Northampton
Kevin Kunkle led the Greyhounds to a second place finish at the three-team John Makuvek Cup last Monday at the Lehigh Country Club. Kunkle had a five-over par round of 75, placing third of the 14 golfers. Kunkle had the day's only eagle with a three on the par five 11th hole, and he had a total of four birdies as part of his round. On Tuesday, Kunkle led the 56 golfers in the Alvernia University Invitational with his first par round of the year, shooting an even 72. Kunkle's round consisted of five birdies and eight pars as he shot 36 on both the front and back nine. Moravian won the tournament, finishing first of the 11 teams with a 302.
Women’s Golf Player – Ithaca
Kimberley Wong, Sophomore – Hong Kong/German-Swiss International School
Kimberley Wong was the tournament medalist and led Ithaca to the team championship at the Pat Clouse Invitational hosted by Wittenberg. Wong posted rounds of 75 and 76 for a total of 151 and a two-shot victory over the second-place finisher. Ithaca won the team title by 10 strokes over the host school.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Stevens
Kevin Calloway, Senior, Forward – Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional
Kevin Calloway recorded five points in a unbeaten week for the Ducks that included a 1-1 tie against Swarthmore, and a 3-0 win against Elmira. Against Swarthmore on Wednesday, Calloway connected on a goal in the 76th minute to put the Ducks up 1-0 in a big road contest. Calloway followed up that performance on Saturday with a goal early in the second half against Elmira to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead, then assisted on a goal 12 minutes later to put Stevens up by two.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – Ithaca
Jordan Gentile, Senior, Goalie – Syracuse, NY/Manlius-Pebble Hill
Senior goalkeeper Jordan Gentile went 1-1 last week, including a 1-0 shutout over conference foe Utica on the road. Gentile made seven saves on all seven Pioneer shots, marking his first shutout of the season. Gentile allowed just one goal on 11 shots over the two-game span.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player –Ithaca
Kelsey King, Junior, Forward – Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh
Junior Kelsey King had her strongest showing of the year this past week, leading the Bombers to a 2-0 record with wins over Utica and Nazareth. King scored twice in Ithaca's 4-0 victory over the Pioneers. King recorded a goal and assisted on the Bombers' overtime goal against Nazareth, giving her seven points over the two-game stretch.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive – Stevens
Lindsey Mahnken, Freshman, Goalie – Bayville, NJ/M.A.T.E.S.
Freshman Lindsey Mahnken earned both wins this weekend for Stevens in 135 minutes played. In a 3-1 triumph over Houghton, Mahnken made nine saves and then recorded one in a 5-0 shutout of Alfred the following day.
Women’s Tennis Player – Elmira
Amy Schmidt, Senior – Batavia, NY/Batavia
Amy Schmidt had a successful run at the New York State Women's Tennis Championships, advancing to the quarterfinals in both the third singles and second doubles draws. She took down fellow E8 player, Emma Jackson from Alfred, 6-1, 6-0, in singles. Then in doubles, she and Rebecca Zeuschner erased a 5-1 deficit, including fighting off five match points at 6-7, to pull out a 9-7 comeback win over RIT. Amy would fall in the next round in both draws to opponents from Skidmore College.
Women’s Volleyball Player – Elmira
Kelsey Ross, Junior, L/OH – Oswego, NY/Oswego
In Elmira's only match of the week against Alfred University, Ross moved from her normal position as EC's libero to an outside hitter role. As an outside hitter, Ross logged 16 kills on 32 attempts. She also had nine digs, two aces, and one solo block. Her efforts guided Elmira to their second consecutive E8 win.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – Stevens
Syndi Horner, Freshman, Libero – Columbia, MD/River Hill
Freshman Sydni Horner posted 47 digs, six assists and four aces in three matches this week for Stevens. Horner began the week with eight digs in a sweep of Vassar College on Wednesday. In a tri-match on Saturday, Horner collected 22digs, two aces and two assists in a sweep of Gettysburg and then contributed 17 digs, three assists and two aces in a loss to Stevenson.