General | 9/23/2019 1:00:01 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on Sept. 23, 2019 for games played from Sept. 16-Sept. 22. It is the fourth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Tyler Deuschle, Houghton, Sr., Depew, NY/Depew
Deuschle finished 15th out of 252 runners with a time of 26:44 over 8,000-meters in the hotly contested Harry F. Anderson Invite hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College on Saturday, which included runners from Division II and III. He finished with a mile rate of 5:22.7. Deuschle earned his second straight E8 weekly accolade.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Kaitlyn Stinson, Utica, Gr., South Kortright, NY/South Kortright
Stinson won her first individual crown of the season at the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational on Saturday. In her first 6,000-meter race of the season, Stinson rolled to a 26-second victory in a time of 23:18.7, recording a 6:15.1 mile rate to defeat 52 runners. Utica was second in the team competition with 38 points.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Allyson Quirk, Hartwick, Sr., F, Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow
Quirk had a strong week in Hartwick's two shutout wins, scoring twice and putting up 10 shots. Quirk registered her first career multi-goal game, firing a team-high seven shots on net in Wednesday’s 6-0 win over Oswego. She enjoyed another strong day in Saturday's scoreless Empire 8 win over Houghton, firing three shots on target. Quirk is third on the Hawks in scoring this season with 10 points on four goals and two assists.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Allyson Osborne, Hartwick, Jr., GK, Nottingham, PA/Solanco
Osborne helped Hartwick put up back-to-back clean sheets last week, extending her shutout streak to 194:27 in the process. In Wednesday's 6-0 win over Oswego, she made five saves, including three big stops midway through the fourth to preserve the shutout. Osborne shined in overtime and penalty strokes during Saturday's scoreless Empire 8 opener against Houghton, making seven saves overall. With just under a minute left in the first extra period, she stopped Houghton's Hannah Daniels three times off the rush to keep the game alive, and in the second overtime stopped a point-blank Highlander shot from under ten yards out. Osborne shut down the last three Houghton attempts to seal a 3-1 shootout win for Hartwick. She leads the Empire 8 with a 1.15 goals against average and three shutouts this season.
FOOTBALL
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Freddy June, Brockport, Fr., QB, Rochester, NY/Irondequoit
June exploded for five touchdowns in leading the Golden Eagles to a 55-22 win over Buffalo St. on Saturday. He threw for 191 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards and two more scores on just seven carries. June scored on a 25-yard scamper in the opening quarter and added a 52-yard touchdown run just after halftime. He fired touchdown passes of 61 and 2-yards to Imhotep Crimer just 3:23 apart in the second quarter and added a career-best 88-yard touchdown pass to DaQuan Hubbard midway through the third quarter. It was June’s second straight 100-yard rushing effort.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jason Rodriguez, St. John Fisher, So., S, Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post
Rodriguez continued his tremendous start as St. John Fisher moved to 3-0 in 2019 with a 40-16 win over The College of New Jersey Saturday. Rodriguez came away with two interceptions in the win and finished with 38 return yards. Both interceptions led to two touchdown drives for the Cardinals who scored 35 unanswered points in the second half to erase an 11-point halftime deficit. Rodriguez also finished with three tackles. He leads Division III with five interceptions through just three games this season.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – TySean Sizer, St. John Fisher, Jr., WR/PR, Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit
Sizer brought the crowd to its feet on Saturday as the Cardinals scored 35 unanswered points in the second half en route to a 40-16 win over The College of New Jersey. He scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter after returning a punt 76 yards to the endzone. The punt return for a touchdown was Fisher’s first since 2011. Sizer, who was named All-Patriot League at Division I Colgate last season as a return man, finished with 105 punt return yards on the day.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joe Miga, Utica, So., Clinton, NY/Notre Dame
Miga was one of the most consistent performers at the Utica College Invitational, finishing tied for second overall with teammate Josh Kienz at the event. Miga shot a pair of rounds of 75 for a 150 total and landed at eight over par for the championship on his way to the second-place finish, as Utica won the team title with a score of 613.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jake Adams, Nazareth, Jr., M, Holley, NY/Kendall
Adams scored his third and fourth goals of the season in a 1-0-1 week for the Golden Flyers. He converted a penalty kick in the second half of last Tuesday's 1-1 non-conference tie at Morrisville and scored Nazareth's first goal in Saturday's 4-1 home-field triumph over Alfred in the E8 conference opener. He is tied for the team lead with four goals and second with nine points in five games played this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Xavier Townsend, Elmira, Fr., GK, Queensland, Australia/Ipswich Grammar School
Townsend improved to 4-1-0 in goal after producing two clean sheets in a pair of Elmira victories. On Wednesday, Townsend organized EC's defense and made one save en route to a 2-0 win over Pitt-Bradford. On Saturday, he made six saves to seal Elmira’s 1-0 victory over Sage in the E8 opener for both teams. Townsend Leads the Empire 8 in goals-against average (0.43), save percentage (.917), and is tied for first with three shutouts.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Natalie Ricci, Sage, So., F, Cohoes, NY/Cohoes
Ricci had a hand in five of Sage’s six goals in a 6-1 win over Elmira to open up Empire 8 play on Saturday afternoon. She opened the day by scoring in the 28th minute before adding her second tally of the day in the 58th minute. Ricci added three second-half assists for a seven-point day. She now leads Sage in scoring, despite playing in just three games this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Allison Wagner, Utica, Sr., GK, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua
Wagner continued to excel in net for the Pioneers with 27 saves in two games. On Wednesday, Wagner recorded a career-high 20 saves and faced 42 shots in a loss to Hamilton. She earned her fourth shutout of the season with seven saves in a win over Houghton Saturday. Wagner is 6-2 this season and leads the Empire 8 with 76 saves, four shutouts, and a .916 save percentage.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tori Pellegrino, Alfred, Sr., Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro
Pellegrino was undefeated on the week, winning twice at first singles and twice more at first doubles in a pair of Empire 8 league matches for Alfred. On Wednesday, she defeated Victoria Wilson, 6-3, 6-4 and teamed with Amber Smith for an 8-4 doubles win over Wilson and Skylar Watts, as Alfred earned its first win of the season, 8-1 over Hartwick. Pellegrino recorded the match-clinching point at home against Utica Saturday with a 6-0, 6-0 singles win over Madeline McIlnay. Pellegrino and Smith also teamed up for an 8-5 win over McIlnay and Morgan Willis.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – McKenzie Hart, Nazareth, So., L/DS, Apalachin, NY/Owego Free Academy
Hart amassed 73 digs (6.08 per set) in a 2-1 weekend at the Vassar Invitational. Her 39 digs in Friday's five-set win over Medaille tied for the second most in school history for a single match. She added 20 more in Saturday's four-set win over Vassar and 14 in a three-set loss to Montclair State. Hart leads the Empire 8, averaging 4.95 digs per set in 2019.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alea Steigerwald, St. John Fisher, So., OH, Penfield, NY/Penfield
Steigerwald recorded an incredible .393 hitting percentage, while averaging 6.1 kills and 7.3 points per set in three victories, as St. John Fisher extended its winning streak to six matches overall. Steigerwald combined to produce 55 kills, 29 digs and 10 service aces on the week to go along with one double-double. Against Wells on Friday, the sophomore clubbed a match-high 24 kills and added 19 digs before putting away 17 kills with five aces in a sweep over Northern Vermont. Steigerwald closed out the week with 14 more kills in a three-set victory over D'Youville. She is among the national leaders with 4.87 kills and 5.67 points per set in 2019.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Elaina Moisidis, Sage, Fr., L/DS, Albany, NY/Albany
Moisdis helped Sage to a 2-2 week after playing in all 13 sets with a .909 reception percentage to go along with 46 digs, averaging 3.54 digs per set. She recorded 13 digs in a win over Bard Wednesday and topped that with 16 versus Skidmore Friday. On Saturday, Moisidis added 10 digs in a win over Salem State. She is third on the team with 125 digs (2.72/set) this 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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