E8 Athletes of the Week: Sept. 22
The fall season is in full gear with all sports into the league portion of their schedules, which means the competition is at an all time high level. Those earning weekly honors for the week of Sept. 15-21 include...
Football Offensive Player – St. John Fisher
Tony Fusco, Sophomore, RB – Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa
Tony Fusco paced Fisher's offense with a game-high 187 yards on the ground (8.9 avg) and two touchdowns in a 36-20 win over The College at Brockport. Fusco carried the ball 21 times for Fisher.
Football Defensive Player – The College at Brockport
Jake Brickler, Sophomore, LB – Hilton, NY/Hilton
Jake Brickler tied his career-high as he tallied a game-high 14 tackles (5 solo) against nationally ranked No. 8 St. John Fisher during Courage Bowl X on Saturday. Brickler previously recorded 14 tackles on Nov. 9, 2013 and now has five games with double-digit tackles in his young career.
Football Special Teams Player – Utica
Dakota Peel, Senior, Punter – Alden, NY/Alden
In extremely high winds at Gaetano Stadium Saturday, Utica punter Dakota Peel shined -- averaging 44.4 yards per punt -- including a career-long punt of 74 yards, to help provide great field position all afternoon against Frostburg State. Peel punted the ball five times for 222 yards and he forced one touch back.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – Utica
Hannah Mackey, Senior, Forward – Locke, NY/Moravia Central
Senior Hannah Mackey had five goals and one assist as the Pioneers went 3-0 last week. On Wednesday, she had a goal and an assist as Utica topped Geneseo 4-0. She followed that up with a team-high three goals in UC’s 8-0 win over Elmira in conference action on Saturday and netted the game’s opening goal just 3:46 into play to help lead the Pioneers to a 4-1 upset victory over #3 Skidmore on Sunday.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – Utica
Nikki Kieffer, Senior, Defender – Roma, NY/RFA
Senior Nikki Kieffer led the Utica defense that allowed just one goal through three games last week. The Pioneers gave up just 16 shots on goal in the three games and had a shutout streak that lasted 170 minutes. Her stellar play helped lift Utica to a 4-1 upset victory over #3 Skidmore on Sunday. Kieffer also aided Utica as five Pioneer goals on the week were the direct result of her inserts off penalty corners.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – Ithaca
Sawyer Hitchcock, Junior – Fishers, IN/Hamilton Southeastern
Sawyer Hitchcock placed third overall at the Rochester Yellow Jacket Invitational this past weekend out of 167 runners. He clocked a time of 26:21.2 on the eight-kilometer course, guiding Ithaca to a third place finish overall out of 24 teams.
Women’s Cross Country Runner – Stevens
Kate Moyer, Junior – Long Valley, NJ/Villa Walsh Academy
Junior Kate Moyer guided Stevens in fourth overall in 23:09.7 and was just three seconds from taking the runner-up spot on the 6K course at Richard Stockton. Moyer helped Stevens to a third place team finish out of 12 teams and 80 runners.
Men’s Golf Athlete – Stevens
Cameron Hill, Senior – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Cameron Hill sits in first place individually at the Empire 8 Championship with a 150 after posting rounds of 76 and 74. Behind Hill's performance, the Duck's are in a tie for third at the championship with a 634.
Women’s Golf Player – Ithaca
Taylor Reeves, Junior – Greenfield Township, PA/Lakeland
Taylor Reeves had a career-best single-round score of 77 on Sunday with a front-nine 39 and a back-nine 38. Her two-day total of 160 was also a career-best as Ithaca placed second in the team standings at the competitive Mount Holyoke Invitational. Reeves' round of 77 on Sunday helped Ithaca to a school-record single-round score of 309, and Reeves had a 10th-place finish in a field of 88 golfers.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Utica
Shane Ruffing, Senior, Forward – Rochester, NY/Westborough
Shane Ruffing tallied three points on Saturday night as the Pioneers opened up conference play with a come from behind, 2-1, win over visiting Houghton College. Ruffing assisted on the Pioneers game-tying goal in the 62nd minute and he added the game-winner, his seventh goal of the season, in the 83rd minute. It marked his second game-winning goal of the year.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – Stevens
Mike Renna, Sophomore, Goalie – Basking Ridge, NJ/Gill St. Bernards
Sophomore goalie Mike Renna posted back-to-back shutouts this week comprised of a 2-0 win over Vassar College on Wednesday, followed by a 2-0 win over Nazareth on Saturday. Behind a pair of strong team defensive performances, Renna saved all shots that reached the net as the Ducks moved their record over .500 for the first time this season.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player – Stevens
Raba Nassif, Sophomore, Forward – Northvale, NJ/Northern Valley Old Tappan
Sophomore Raba Nassif scored two goals and added an assist in a 1-1 week for Stevens. Nassif notched the first goal of the game in a 2-1 loss at Farmingdale State and tallied three points in a 3-1 Empire 8 win over Utica.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive – Utica
Kelly Heimerle, Junior, Goalie – North Babylon, NY/North Babylon
Junior Kelly Heimerle totaled 19 saves in two games last week. She made five stops in the Pioneers’ 2-1 win over local rival, SUNYIT on Tuesday. She followed that up with a career-high 14 saves against Stevens in the conference opener on Saturday.
Women’s Tennis Player – Elmira
Kayla Fitzgerald, Senior – Thomaston, CT/Thomaston
Kayla Fitzgerald went a perfect 4-0 this week as she led Elmira to a pair of Empire 8 Conference wins against Houghton College and Hartwick College. She was nothing short of dominant, winning 40 of 44 games played. Fitzgerald's two wins against Houghton moved her into sole possession of second place in Elmira College history for career wins - following the match against Hartwick, she now has 49 total career wins.
Women’s Volleyball co-Player – Houghton
Hattie Burgher, Junior, OH – Selkirk, NY/Loudenville Christian
Hattie Burgher put away 60 kills in Houghton’s three match week averaging 4.6 kills per set and a .310 kill percentage over those three matches. She recorded over 20 kills twice and had two double-doubles. She hit an impressive .586 % in Houghton’s three set sweep over conference opponent, Elmira and tallied 5.6 kills per set. She also managed to dig up 35 balls and dish out five assists on the week.
Women’s Volleyball co-Player – Stevens
Ashley Castillo, Senior, Setter – Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill
Senior Ashley Castillo handed out 127 assists (10.5 per set) in a 2-1 week for Stevens. Castillo began the week with 51 helpers in a five-set loss at New Paltz on Wednesday. Then she handed out 13 in a 3-0 sweep of Elmira before she dished out a school-record 63 in a 3-2 win over Houghton in Empire 8 action. Stevens also set a new school standard for team assists vs. Houghton with 72.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – Ithaca
Joelle Goldstein, Freshman, OH – Kings Park, NY/Kings Park
Joelle Goldstein helped Ithaca to a 3-0 record in Empire 8 conference matches on the week with a mid-week win over Elmira and Saturday victories over Hartwick and St. John Fisher. She had 30 kills and hit .315 over three matches. She also had 10 digs and two block assists.