Field Hockey | 11/4/2019 12:59:06 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on Nov. 4, 2019 for games played from Oct. 28-Nov. 3. It is the tenth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Mitchell Marlow, Utica, Sr., Malone, NY/Franklin Academy
Marlow was the individual winner of the 2019 Empire 8 Championship at St. John Fisher on Saturday, pulling away over the final 4,000-meters to win by 35 seconds in a time of 26:03.5. Marlow was locked in the lead group with 2018 champion, Tyler Deuschle of Houghton and Andrew Ford of St. John Fisher at the midway point of the race. Marlow used a furious kick over the next 2,000 meters to draw clear and open up an 18 second lead at the 6,000-meter mark. He continued on to draw clear to lead Utica to its second straight team title.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Shelby Langlois, Houghton, Sr., Upperco, MD/Hereford
Langlois was the individual winner of the 2019 Empire 8 Championship at St. John Fisher on Saturday, finishing six seconds ahead of the field in a time of 23:14.2 in leading Houghton to its first-ever team championship. Langlois was locked in the lead group with Utica senior Kaitlyn Stinson and St. John Fisher freshman Riley Corey at the 4,000-meter mark. Langlois began to draw clear around the final 1,000 meters and finish six seconds ahead of Stinson.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Bre Socker, St. John Fisher, Jr., F, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Socker enjoyed a record-setting week as the Cardinals went 2-0 with wins over Oswego State and Nazareth to close out the regular season. Socker combined to produce four goals, two assists and 18 total shots. She scored two goals and assisted on two others in the Cardinals' shutout of Oswego. In doing so, Socker broke the program record for most points in a single season. Socker closed out her week with two more goals including the game-winner against the Golden Flyers on Saturday. Socker leads the E8 and is among the national leaders with 28 goals and 62 points this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Allyson Osborne, Hartwick, Jr., GK, Nottingham, PA/Solanco
Osborne stopped all five shots she faced to record her fifth shutout of the season in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Washington and Jefferson that clinched a postseason berth. Osborne leads the Empire 8 with a 1.20 goals against average and is second with an .844 save percentage this season.
FOOTBALL
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jala Coad, Brockport, Fr., RB, Amityville, NY/Amityville Memorial
Coad carried the ball 39 times for a career-high 210 yards and added two rushing scores as Brockport topped No. 18 Cortland in overtime, 32-26, on Saturday afternoon. Both of his rushing scores came in the fourth quarter to help the Golden Eagles rally from a 23-0 first half deficit. He also eclipsed 1,000 yards for his career Saturday and now has 1,149 career rushing yards. He leads the league with 12 rushing touchdowns this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Andrew Covais, Brockport, Jr., LB, Slate Hill, NY/Minisink Valley
Covais recorded seven tackles and a key interception in overtime to help the Golden Eagles rally from a 23-0 first half deficit to defeat No. 18 Cortland 32-26 on Saturday. He added one tackle for a loss of four yards as well.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Maki Medici, Utica, Jr., K/P, Watervliet, NY/Shaker
Medici went 4-for-4 on field goals with a career-long 48-yard field goal, as his offensive efforts comprised the entirety of the second half scoring to help Utica pull away from Alfred and win, 19-10 on Saturday. With the Pioneers down 10-7 late in the second quarter, Medici boomed a 34-yard kick through the uprights as time expired to tie the game heading into halftime. With his defense shutting the Saxons out in the second half, Medici shouldered the scoring load for Utica with field goals of 21, 30, and 48 yards to lift Utica to the win. He also averaged 43 yards on three punts, with a long of 46 yards.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Adnan Bakalovic, Utica, Gr., F, Utica, NY/Proctor
Bakalovic had a hat trick on Saturday to lead Utica to a 4-1 win over Hartwick. The hat trick was the first of Bakalovic's collegiate career. He scored all three goals in a span of less than ten minutes. Bakalovic has five goals and five assists for 15 points this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brian Wilkin, Nazareth, Sr., GK, Hilton, NY/Hilton
Wilkin made seven saves to record his shutout, his fifth of 2019, as Nazareth concluded an unbeaten Empire 8 regular season with a 2-0 win over Elmira Saturday. Wilkin now leads the E8 with a 0.70 goals against average and is tied for first with an .838 save percentage.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mikayla Blumenstock, Utica, Sr., F, Poland, NY/Poland
Blumenstock tallied seven goals and an assist in leading the Pioneers to a pair of wins, as the Pioneers hammered MCLA 5-0, and topped Elmira 4-1. In a weeknight match against MCLA, Blumenstock scored four goals that not only gave the Pioneers the win but vaulted her into the record books. Her third goal was her 18th of the season, eclipsing the school single season record of 17 set in 1993. Her fourth goal broke the single season school record for points in a season. On Saturday against Elmira, she had three goals and an assist to help Utica qualify for the Empire 8 Tournament. She has 22 goals and 46 points this season, both of which lead the E8.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Gabriella D’Ambrosio, St. John Fisher, So., GK, Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili
D'Ambrosio was tremendous in leading Fisher to a 2-1 win at Nazareth College on Saturday. The win gave Fisher a share of the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship and clinched the top overall seed in the upcoming conference championship. D'Ambrosio played all 90 minutes in goal and made five saves in all - four of which came in the second half to keep it a 1-1 game before the Cardinals scored the game-winner in the 87th minute to secure their first-ever regular season title.
MEN’S SWIMMNG & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Yury Chernyak, Hartwick, Sr., Breaststroke/IM, Sidney, NY/Sidney
Chernyak set two Elting Pool records en route to three individual wins and one relay win in Hartwick men's swimming and diving's 156.5-100.5 win over New Paltz on Saturday. He helped the Hawks start the day strong, swimming a 27.45 second breaststroke split in the 200-yard medley relay as Hartwick claimed a victory. He showed up next in the 100-yard breaststroke, setting a pool record with a 59.44 second time, as well as the win. Chernyak kept the accolades going in the 200-yard breaststroke, putting up another pool record with a time of 2:10.23. He ended up his day in the 200-yard individual medley, swimming the fastest time by clocking in in 2:04.46.
WOMEN’S SWIMMNG & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Allie Norwood, Nazareth, So., Diver, Lockport, NY/Lockport
Norwood won both diving competitions against Alfred in the home opener for Nazareth on Saturday. She had a score of 267.45 on the 1-meter board and a score of 256.70 to win the 3-meter event. Her 1-meter score is currently second in Division III and her 3-meter score is fourth according to collegeswimming.com.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Savannah Terry, Elmira, Jr., MB, Oswego, NY/Owego
Terry was instrumental in guiding Elmira to a 2-1 showing at the Dig Pink Invitational, slamming 27 kills with a 2.25 kills per set average and a .300 attack percentage to go along with seven blocks. She tallied a team-high-tying 10 kills while swinging at a .348 clip, to go along with five digs and two blocks in a four-set win over Cazenovia and led the charge in a five-set win over Baruch with a .519 attack percentage and 15 kills.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Darian Ortiz, Alfred, Fr., L/DS, Santa Fe, NM/St. Michael’s
Ortiz closed out her inaugural season by recording 36 digs and 10 service aces in a non-conference tri-match on Saturday. She tallied career-best totals of 26 digs and eight services aces against Oswego and added 10 digs and a pair of aces in a win over SUNY Poly. Ortiz closes the year with 48 aces, which puts her at the No. 4 spot in AU history for most aces in a single season.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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