Athletes of the Week: Sept. 26 - Oct. 2
Empire 8 athletes continued to perform at a high level as the season moved into its second month of competition. Those earning weekly honors for the week for Sept. 26 - Oct. 2, 2016 include...
Football Offensive Player – Hartwick
Billy Pine, Senior, QB – Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls
Billy Pine accumulated 603 yards of total offense on Saturday as the Hartwick Hawks produced 47 points. Pine completed 33 of 47 passes for a career high of 521 yards with three touchdowns. His passing yardage total ranks third-highest in a single game in Division III this season. Pine added 82 rushing yards for 603 total, which is the second-highest single game total in the country.
Football Defensive Player – Ithaca
Dan Loizos, Junior, LB – Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Township
Junior Dan Loizos anchored Ithaca's defense that held Utica 17 points, 50 total yards and 100 rushing yards below its season averages in a 23-14 victory on Oct. 1. Loizos was all over the field last Saturday, as he made a career-high 20 tackles (eight solo, 12 assisted), forced a fumble, 2.5 tackles for loss (14 yards) and 1.5 sacks (13 yards).
Football Special Teams Player – Cortland
Shane Cronin, Senior, K/P – West Nyack, NY/Clarkstown South
Shane Cronin made the game-winning 34-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining in Cortland's 50-47 win at Hartwick. He also made a 34-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter and was 4-for-4 on PAT attempts. In addition, Cronin averaged 42.8 yards per punt on four attempts and 61.4 yards per kickoff on nine kicks.
Field Hockey Offensive Player – W&J
Kelly Knisel, Senior, Forward – Weatogue, CT/Simsbury
Kelly Knisel helped W&J improve to 9-0 on the year and 4-0 in the Empire 8 with a hat trick in Saturday's 4-0 win over Utica at Cameron Stadium. She scored on all three of her shots in recording her first career hat trick. For the week, she took nine shots, five of which landed on goal.
Field Hockey Defensive Player – W&J
Karlie Baran, Junior, Goalie – Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty
In Wednesday's 4-0 blanking of Wooster, Karlie Baran made a career-high eight saves. Baran then extended her scoreless streak to over 300 minutes at 301:37, and four-straight games, with three saves in Saturday's 4-0 win over Utica, improving W&J to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the Empire 8.
Men’s Cross Country Runner – St. John Fisher
Mac Milligan, Senior – Williamsville, NY/Williamsville North
Senior Mac Milligan was the top finisher for St. John Fisher at the Paul Short invite hosted by Lehigh University. Milligan placed 31st overall out of 401 runners with an 8K time of 25:20.
Women’s Cross Country Runner – Stevens
Amy Regan, Senior – Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional
Senior Amy Regan finished first for the third consecutive race she’s ran, turning in a time of 20:55 in the 6K Greater Louisville Classic. Regan bested the field of 333 runners by nearly 25 seconds.
Men’s Golf Athlete – St. John Fisher
Karl Deuble, Senior – Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Fisher finished second in the ECAC Championships this weekend, breaking its 10-year win streak. Senior Karl Deuble was the runner-up at the ECAC Championship, finishing at minus-2 (72-70).
Women’s Golf Player – Ithaca
Kimberley Wong, Senior – Hong Kong/German Swiss International
Senior Kimberley Wong won her second career individual title as she claimed medalist honors at the 2016 Empire 8 Championship. On the first day, Wong scored an 82 (+10), as she carded no score higher than a six, posting 41 on both the front and back nines. She finished with nine pars on her opening round. On Sunday she marked three pars and a great birdie on the par-four sixth hole to go out in 41 (+5). The senior was even better on the back nine, scoring five pars and a birdie to come in with a 39 (+3). Wong finished the round with a flourish, scoring the birdie on 17 and a par on 18 to win top honors, by one stroke. She ended the two-day tournament with a 162 (+18).
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player – Stevens
Patrick Masur, Senior, Midfield – Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan
Senior Patrick Masur served as an offensive spark for Stevens last week with five points off a goal and three assists in a pair of wins. In Wednesday's win against Widener, Masur scored the first goal and assisted on the second, before assisting in the first two goals of the game in a Saturday win over Elmira.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player – Houghton
Jesse Toth, Senior, Midfield – Victor, NY/Victor
Senior Jesse Toth anchored Houghton’s defense that held Alfred to only six shots, nine below its average of 14.1 per game. He was a key factor in shutting down Alfred’s attack and neutralizing the midfield. Toth helped hold Alfred’s leading scorer without a shot in the game.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player – Alfred
Lexi Riffelbach, Freshman, Forward – Clifton Park, NY/Catholic Central
Lexi Riffelbach scored three goals and was credited with one assist in a 2-0 week for Alfred. On Wednesday, she had one goal and one assist in a 3-0 shutout of Pitt-Bradford and the Saxons’ first road win of the 2016 season. Saturday she scored the first goal and the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win over Elmira as the Saxons won its first E8 game since 2012.
Women’s’ Soccer Defensive – Utica
Allison Wagner, Freshman, GK – Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy
Utica went 0-2 on the week, but goalkeeper Allison Wagner put up an impressive defensive performance. She saw 49 shots in her 135 minutes played, allowing just five goals and saving 28 on-goal attempts. Wagner made 10 saves against Ithaca on Wednesday in the first half of the game and then made 18 saves against Nazareth on Saturday.
Women’s Tennis Player – Stevens
Alexis Connor, Senior – Allenwood, NJ/Point Pleasant Beach
Senior Alexis Connor went 4-0 combined at first singles and first doubles as the Ducks went 2-0 in a pivotal E8 weekend. Connor started the weekend with a 6-1, 6-1 win at singles over Fisher and an 8-0 win at doubles, before winning 8-3 at doubles and 6-4, 6-1 at singles vs. Hartwick. With the win against Hartwick, Stevens moved into sole possession of second place in the E8.
Women’s Volleyball Player – Houghton
Naomi Prentice, Junior, MB - Linwood, NY/York Central
Naomi Prentice led Houghton with 58 kills over the course of a 2-2 week as she averaged 3.625 kills and a .357 hitting percentage. She started the week with 12 kills and five blocks in a 3-1 loss to Brockport. Houghton then picked up its fourth sweep of the season on Friday and Prentice once again led the way, nailing 12 kills while only committing one error against D’Youville. On Saturday, Prentice racked up 34 total kills over the two matches, 16 in the 3-2 win against Franciscan, and a team-season-high 18 against Pitt-Bradford.
Women’s Volleyball Rookie – Nazareth
Melissa Newcomb, Freshman, MB – Syracuse, NY/Westhill
Melissa Newcomb was named the Skidmore Tournament MVP after helping the Golden Flyers to a 3-0 record. She had 34 kills on a .357 attack percentage, with seven digs and seven blocks for the week. The freshman had eight kills (.467) and three blocks in a sweep of Fisher. She had seven kills (.048) against Cortland on Friday. She had a huge Saturday with 10 kills (.474) with three blocks in a sweep of Skidmore. She closed out the tournament with nine kills on 15 attempts (.533).