Empire 8 Conference Players of the Week - April 29
Empire 8 Players of the Week
April 22 – April 28
Baseball
Player – Antony Mantova, St. John Fisher (Junior, Albany, N.Y.)
Mantova was on fire last week as the junior outfielder hit .750 on the week as the Cardinals went 3-0 overall. Mantova was 9-for-12 on the week with a double, two triples, seven RBI and five runs scored. He slugged 1.167 overall and had three steals in three attempts.
Pitcher – Danny Poidomani, Stevens (Senior, Rochelle Park, N.J.)
Poidomani collected seven strikeouts over seven innings pitched in Stevens' 5-0 win over Houghton. The Rochelle Park, New Jersey native allowed just three hits and zero runs to earn the win on the mound for the Ducks.
Rookie – Jared Money, Elmira (Freshman, Templeton, Calif.)
Although he only appeared in three of Elmira’s four games and only had plate appearances in his two starts, he paced Elmira with five hits and four RBIs last week. Money hit .556 (5-9) without striking out. Against playoff-bound St. John Fisher, he went 2-for-4 with one RBI. On Sunday at Canton, he helped the Soaring Eagles to a 9-8 comeback victory with career highs in hits (three) and RBIs (three), including a game-tying RBI single in the ninth, as Elmira scored five runs in the final inning to overcome an 8-4 deficit.
Men’s Lacrosse
Player – Nicholas Carnovale, Stevens (Senior, Fairfield, N.J.)
Carnovale was a perfect 20-20 on faceoffs, while picking up 16 ground balls in No. 10 Stevens' 18-6 victory over Hartwick as he helped lead the Ducks to their 12
th-straight victory and the program's third straight Empire 8 Conference regular-season title.
Goalkeeper – Eric Almquist, Nazareth (Freshman, Wakefield, Mass.)
Almquist produced 13 saves, including seven in the fourth quarter, in a 16-4 playoff-clinching victory at Alfred on Saturday. He also scooped up four ground balls as the Golden Flyers improved to 4-3 in Empire 8 Conference games.
Women’s Lacrosse
Player – Kyra Bednarski, Stevens (Junior, Syracuse, N.Y.)
The junior attack-woman moved into third place on the program's all-time scoring list by totaling 11 goals and seven assists as Stevens defeated Sage and Hartwick to clinch the third seed in the upcoming E8 conference tournament. Bednarski registered 15 shots on goal on her 17 total attempts, while picking up a pair of ground balls. She collected one game-winner and went 3 for 4 on her free-position attempts.
Goalkeeper – Hali Vandermeulen, Utica (Junior, Walden, N.Y.)
Vandermeulen became Utica's new all-time leader in career wins, while backstopping the Pioneers to a pair of wins in the past week. She thwarted 13 of 23 attempts on Tuesday to lift Utica to a one-goal win over SUNY Canton. Vandermeulen then returned to conference action and stopped five of six shots in one half of play in an E8 win over Houghton.
Softball
Player – Sarah Kubik, St. John Fisher (Senior, Orchard Park, N.Y.)
Kubik had a record-setting week as the senior helped lead Fisher to a 5-1 record last week and a share of the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship. She hit .375 overall with a double, three home runs, 10 RBI and seven runs scored. The Orchard Park native slugged 1.000 on the week, and became the all-time RBI leader for both Fisher's softball program and the Empire 8. To date, Kubik has driven-in 137 runs over 178 career games.
Pitcher – Jessica Wilcox, Alfred (Junior, Forestville, N.Y.)
Wilcox broke another school record last week as she earned her seventh single-season shutout win in Alfred’s win over SUNY Cortland on Wednesday. She then added on to that mark with another shutout win over Oswego State on Thursday. Between her two wins, Wilcox only gave up five hits and walked four while striking out batters 11 times. She recorded 13 strikeouts on the week as she also pitched 2.0 innings against Oswego in the day-opener. Wilcox went 7.0 innings in both of her wins and did not allow an earned run all week.
Men’s Tennis
Player – Bryan Szayna, Stevens (Sophomore, Ambler, Pa.)
Szayna posted a perfect 4-0 record on the week, including wins at first doubles and fourth singles as then-unranked Stevens upset No. 29 TCNJ. The Ambler, Pennsylvania native then earned a pair of victories as Stevens swept both Elmira and Sage to close out the regular season, including a win at No. 2 singles.
Outdoor Track & Field
Men’s Track Athlete – Eddie Mahana, St. John Fisher Utica (Senior, Clay, N.Y.)
Mahana competed at the Penn Relays this past Friday as the senior ran in the 400m hurdles event. He competed against individuals from both Division I and Division III schools, and finished with a personal best time of 53.18. With that finish, the Clay native moved himself up the national leaderboard to fourth overall in the 400m hurdles event.
Men’s Field Athlete – Chase Corcoran, St. John Fisher (Sophomore, Skaneateles, N.Y.)
Corcoran was one of the winners for the Cardinals as the team hosted the annual Cardinal Classic. He won the hammer throw with a first-place heave of 47.46 meters.
Women’s Track Athlete – Tayler Dence, St. John Fisher (Junior, Hannibal, N.Y.)
Dence was one of the top finishers for the Cardinals as the team hosted the annual Cardinal Classic. After posting the fourth-fastest time in the 100m preliminaries, she sprinted to a second-place finish in the finale after crossing the finish line with a season-best mark of 12.76 seconds. The Hannibal native's time was just .004 seconds off the winning pace and it’s the fourth-best time in the E8 this season.
Women’s Field Athlete – Skylar Van Alstyne, Sage (Junior, Castleton, N.Y.)
Keeping their streak alive, the Gators women’s team added four more school records on Saturday afternoon. Van Alstyne added two school record performances on Saturday as she broke her own mark in the shot put taking with a throw of 10.74 meters, bettering her record of 10.64 meters she set last week. She also broke the javelin record set in 2015 by Helen Putriment competing the Capital District Championship as well with a throw of 30.51 meters. Van Alstyne had a throw of 30.78 meters at the meet on Saturday.
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 and
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