Empire 8 Players of the Week
9/17/18-9/24/18

Football Offensive Player – Morrisville
Nick Edmond, Senior – Blythe, CA/Paolo Verde
Edmond led all ball carriers in the 34-26 win over St. Lawrence University Friday night, collecting 137-yards on 26 carries for two touchdowns. His scores came at distances of 11- and 6-yards each. Edmond added one reception for 11 yards on his night tallies, averaging 5.3 yards per rushing attempt.

Football Defensive Player – St. John Fisher
Demarre Nelson, Senior – East Rochester, NY/East Rochester
Nelson made his season debut on Saturday as the Cardinals faced nationally-ranked Ithaca College at Growney Stadium. Nelson, who was matched up against a first-team All-American wide receiver the entire game, made his presence felt with 11 tackles including eight solo stops. The East Rochester native also came down with a key interception that set up a touchdown drive for the Cardinals. Nelson was also credited with a pass breakup on the day as Fisher did not allow a passing touchdown.
 
Football Special Teams Player - Alfred
Kevin Bragaglia, Sophomore - Holbrook, NY/Sachem North
Bragaglia recorded the game-winning touchdown on Homecoming Weekend against SUNY Cortland. He returned a punt for 92 yards to lift the Saxons to 38-27 as they closed out with a final score of 38-33 on Saturday. Bragaglia also ran for a 26-yard touchdown near the start of the third quarter. He totaled 51 yards on five attempts for 10.2 yards a carry. His touchdown run was his longest of the day. Bragaglia also caught four receptions (team-high) for 22 yards with a long of 16. He rounded out his excellent day with a kickoff return of 77 yards.
 
Men’s Golf Player – Utica
Patrick Coughlin, Junior – New Hartford, NY/New Hartford
Coughlin fired a two round total of 146 to earn medalist honors and lead Utica to the team win at the Utica College Invitational this weekend. His one over 72 on Sunday led a Utica effort that shaved 12 strokes off their Saturday score, and the Pioneers erased a one shot deficit in the team standings to earn the victory by three strokes over SUNY Delhi.
 
Women’s Golf Player – Nazareth
Deanna Tinch, Sophomore – North Chili, NY/Churchville-Chili
Tinch earned medalist honors at the Utica Invitational over the weekend with rounds of 88 and 83 at Yahundasis Golf Club in New Hartford, leading Nazareth to the team title.
 
Men’s Cross Country Runner – Houghton
Tyler Deuschle, Junior – Depew, NY/Depew
Deuschle placed 17^th out of 233 runners at the Harry F. Anderson Cross Country Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. He registered an 8K time of 26:41.6 and a mile pace of 5:23 to lead the way for the Highlanders.
 
Women’s Cross Country Co-Runner – Elmira
Claire Preisch, Sophomore – Milton, PA/Milton
Preisch led the EC women's cross country team to its first win in program history on Saturday at the SUNY Poly Wildcat Classic. She paced the Soaring Eagles with a sixth-place finish and a time of 26:56.40 in the 6-kilometer race. Her sixth-place finish marks the second-best finish of her collegiate career. Her time marks the fourth-best 6K of her career and the 10th-best in program history.

Women’s Cross Country Co-Runner – Hartwick
Alaina Carpenter, Freshman – Grandville, MI/Grandville
Carpenter finished first for Hartwick and first overall with a time of 24:21.3 on the six-kilometer course at the Bard Raptors Invitational Saturday. Carpenter also set the course record. The win for Carpenter marks her third consecutive victory this season.
 
Women’s Tennis Player – Stevens
Agatha Malinowski, Freshman – Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon
Malinowski went 4-0 as Stevens defeated Alfred and St. John Fisher to improve to 4-1 on the year. Against Alfred, Malinowski dropped just one point at No. 1 singles and paired with junior Isabella Calandra to earn an 8-3 win at first doubles. Against Fisher, the Kinnelon, New Jersey native again paired with Calandra to win at No. 1 doubles and then earned a hard-fought three-set win over Kalli Saffran in the top singles position.

Field Hockey Offensive Player- St. John Fisher
Lauren Fazio, Senior, Forward- Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington
Lauren Fazio and the St. John Fisher College field hockey team finished up the past week with a 2-0 record, which included to Empire 8 victories. Fazio started off the week notching her second career hat-trick in the Fisher 4-0 win over Houghton. The senior finished with four shots in total, with all of them going on goal. The Hopewell Junction native the followed up with a two goal performance in the 5-0 Cardinal win over Elmira on Saturday. Fazio again finished the game with four shots on goal and now sits at six goals on the year.
 
Field Hockey Defensive Player- Stevens
Emily Franco, Freshman, GK- West Chester, PA/ B. Reed Henderson
The freshman goalkeeper made 14 saves in posting a pair of wins over Cabrini and Hartwick. Franco made one save in a combined shutout of the Cavaliers and then was outstanding in Stevens' 2-1 victory over the Hawks, totaling a career-high 13 saves, including six after the Ducks took the lead, to hold the league's top offense to just a single goal. For the season, the West Chester, Pennsylvania native has a 1.23 goals against average and is saving 83 percent of opposing shots.
 
Women’s Volleyball Player- Elmira
Natalie Schieder, Senior, OH- Alden, NY/Alden
Floored a team-leading 51 kills over the last week to guide Elmira to a pair of E8 wins Tallied 54 digs across the four matches and added six aces. Posted double-doubles in kills and digs against Pitt Bradford (20 K, 18 d) and Utica (15 K, 20 d) Ranks fourth in the Empire 8 in kills per set (3.33) Ranks second in E8 in aces per set (0.59)
 
Women’s Volleyball Rookie- Sage
Emma Parkington, Freshman, OH- Dalton, MA/Wahconah
Averaged 1.83 kills per set on the week in 18 sets played , while hitting .310 with a team-best 49 setting assists, 8 aces and added 29 digs with 1.61 digs per set as well and finished with 10 total blocks.
 
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player- Sage
Jeaneste Pierre, Sophomore, Forward- Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy
Had the game-winning goal in Sage's road win over Elms and also had the game-tying goal as Sage hosted and eventually beat Houghton for the first league win of the young season. Leads Sage with his 3 goals and 6 points this fall.
 
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player- Nazareth
Brian Wilkin, Junior, Goalie- Rochester, NY/Hilton
Wilkin posted two more shutouts as Nazareth improved to 5-2-1 overall and 1-0-1 in Empire 8 games. He had two saves each in road wins over Pitt.-Bradford (3-0) and Elmira (1-0). For the season, he has a 0.61 goals-against average with an .853 save percentage and four shutouts.
 
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player- Utica
Kierra Caissey, Sophomore, Forward- Gardner, MA/Gardner
Caissey posted three goals in two matches as the Pioneers pushed their unbeaten streak to three straight this week. On Wednesday, the sophomore buried a penalty kick for Utica's lone goal in a 1-1 draw with Nazareth College. The midfielder then provided plenty of firepower in a raucous offensive performance against Elmira on Saturday, as she scored twice to lead the Pioneers in a 7-0 rout.
 
Women’s Soccer Defensive Player- Utica
Allison Wagner, Junior, Goalie, Canandaigua, NY/ Canandaigua
Wagner allowed just one goal in two matches as the Pioneers went 1-0-1 for the week. The junior turned in her best performance on Wednesday at Nazareth, as she was tested frequently in a 1-1 draw. Wagner turned aside 11 shots on 12 attempts from the Golden Flyers in 110 minutes of play as she helped carry the Pioneers through regulation and extra time. On Saturday, a much less active effort was required of Wagner, but she turned away the only shot she saw in 45 minutes as Utica routed Elmira 7-0.