Field Hockey | 10/11/2021 12:55:38 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on October 11, 2021, for games played from October 4-October 10. It is the sixth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2021-22 season. Sports featured include men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Grant Stokoe, St. John Fisher, Sr., Cortland, NY/Homer
Stokoe led the Cardinals to a second place finish as the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton College on Saturday. Stokoe was the Empire 8's best finisher, as he crossed the finish line in 26:09.89 over the 8,000-meter distance to take second place overall. It is Stokoe’s third E8 weekly honor of the fall.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Riley Corey, St. John Fisher, Jr., Waterloo, NY/Waterloo
Corey took home the individual title at the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton College on Saturday, leading St. John Fisher to a first place finish. Corey completed the 6,000-meter trek in 23:03.78 – 23 seconds faster than the race's runner-up from Cortland.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Bre Socker, St. John Fisher, Gr., F, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Socker tallied nine points in leading the Cardinals to a pair of wins over Empire 8 foes Utica and Elmira last week to remain atop the league standings. Socker, who earned her second straight E8 weekly honor, scored three goals and added three assists in the two games. Socker scored a goal and assisted on two others in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Utica before notching two goals and a helper in 4-0 a shutout at Elmira on Sunday. Socker, who has 19 points over her last three games, is tied for the league lead with 29 points on 10 goals and nine assists in 11 games this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emily Heck, Washington & Jefferson, So., M/D, Reading, PA/Berks Catholic
Heck was part of a stout defensive unit that allowed just three total shots in two games, while adding three goals and six points of her own to help the Presidents to a pair of shutout victories last week. She scored the lone goal in a 1-0 non-conference win at Oberlin Wednesday. Heck added two more goals, a career-high, in a 7-0 conference victory for W&J Saturday against Sage.
FOOTBALL
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brees Segala, Cortland, Sr., QB, Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder
Segala completed 16-of-30 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a team-best 67 yards on 14 carries as Cortland improved to 5-0 in 2021 with a 31-10 win over visiting Brockport Saturday. His 45-yard touchdown pass on the first series of the third quarter tied the game at 10-10, and his 27-yard TD early in the fourth quarter extended the Red Dragons' lead to 24-10. Segala earned his third E8 weekly honor of 2021.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Justin Wheeler, Cortland, Sr., LB, Binghamton, NY/Susquehanna Valley
Wheeler made nine tackles, including one for a loss, and intercepted a pass during Cortland's 31-10 win over Brockport Saturday. His pressure on the quarterback led to an underthrown ball that was picked off by a teammate and returned 32 yards for a touchdown that gave the Red Dragons a 17-10 lead in the third quarter, and his interception early in the fourth quarter at the Brockport 27-yard line set up a TD pass on the next play that extended the lead to 24-10.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joe Miscia, St. John Fisher, So., LB, Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley
Miscia recorded a game-high 19 tackles on Saturday to lead the Cardinals to a 28-23 win over Morrisville State. Miscia, who entered the weekend leading Division III in total tackles, finished with 10 solo stops and nine assisted tackles. He had half of a sack in the win and added one pass breakup.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Dustin McCaslin, Alfred, Sr., K, Ashville, NY/Chautauqua Lake
McCaslin scored the game-winning field goal on Saturday to lift Alfred to a 24-21 win over Hartwick. He finished the night with 10 points on three field goals and a PAT. His first field goal came from 35 yards out right at the horn before halftime cutting Hartwick’s lead to 21-10. He then opened up the second half scoring spree for AU with a 24-yard field goal, bringing the score to 21-13. After AU tied the game with a touchdown and a successful 2-point conversion, McCaslin would sound the horns with a 28-yard, game-winning field goal. On kickoffs, McCaslin had five kicks for 284 yards and two touchbacks.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jake Costa, Nazareth, Sr., Rochester, NY/Brighton
Costa led the Golden Flyers at the Nazareth Invitational as he tied for 13th with a two round score of 162. He shot an 80 in round one and an 82 in the second round.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Julius Klohr, Houghton, Gr., M, Charlotte, NC/Covenant Day
Klohr scored two second-half goals in Saturday's 4-0 victory over Hartwick. He scored in the 77th minute to give Houghton a 2-0 lead and closed out the scoring just over nine minutes later.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Nolan Murphy, Russell Sage, So., GK, Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker
Murphy did not allow a goal across two matches this week. The junior totaled 12 saves during his 200 minutes in net, including seven in Saturday's win over defending Empire 8 Champion St. John Fisher. Murphy also made five saves in a scoreless tie versus SUNY Poly on Tuesday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emma Spelman, St. John Fisher, Fr., M, Hilton, NY/Hilton
Spelman had a hand in every scoring play in the Cardinals 4-1 rout of Sage on Saturday at Growney Stadium. The freshman tallied a goal and three assists for a total of five points in the contest, leading the Empire 8's No. 2 scoring offense to a 2-1 conference record. Spelman assisted on both first half goals and scored her own goal with just under seven minutes left in regulation.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Annika Monfort, Nazareth, Fr., GK, Ontario, NY/Webster Thomas
Monfort finished with 21 saves in a pair of games for the Golden Flyers. She started the week by stopping a career-high 18 shots in a loss versus No. 6 William Smith on Wednesday. Monfort closed out the week by stopping three shots to earn the shutout in a 3-0 win over Utica. Monfort earned her second straight E8 weekly honor.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tessa Brown, Houghton, Sr., Cortland, NY/Homer
Brown recorded two crucial points for Houghton, as they squeaked out a 5-4 win over Alfred Saturday to clinch the fourth and final berth in the Empire 8 Tournament. Brown began the day by teaming with Marilynn Amborski to earn an 8-6 win at third doubles. With the match on the line, tied 4-4, Brown came through at sixth singles in dramatic fashion for the Highlanders. She won the first set, 6-0 before losing the second set on a tiebreaker, 7-6. Brown found herself down 5-1 in the third and decisive set before unleashing a furious rally, coming back to win the set 7-6 after earning a 7-2 nod in the tiebreaker.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Elaina Moisidis, Russell Sage, Jr., L/DS, Albany, NY/Albany
Moisidis averaged 6.00 digs per set across three matches last week. The junior, who leads the E8 in digs and digs per set, registered a career-high 33 digs in Wednesday's five-set win vs. Utica. She added 22 digs versus Keuka and 17 more versus E8 foe Houghton.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alea Steigerwald, St. John Fisher, Sr., OH, Penfield, NY/Penfield
Steigerwald finished with a pair of double-doubles last week as the Cardinals went 4-0 overall including a pivotal regional win over Brockport on Tuesday and extended their winning streak to 12 matches. In all, Steigerwald totaled 39 kills, 41 digs, three blocks and eight aces while hitting .205 over 14 sets. Against Brockport, Steigerwald added 14 kills and 15 digs before contributing 11 kills and 13 digs in an Empire 8 win over the Saxons on Friday. On Saturday, the Penfield native combined to produce 14 kills and 13 digs in a pair of straight set wins over Elmira and Misericordia, respectively. It is her third E8 weekly honor of the 2021 season.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Staecia Silofau, Hartwick, Fr., RS/OH, Kapolei, HI/Maryknoll
Silofau picked up 26 kills, nine blocks, and eight digs in three Hartwick sweeps this week. She had seven kills on a .278 hitting percentage as well as two blocks in Tuesday's win over rival Delhi, then followed that with six kills, five blocks, and four digs in Friday's 3-0 win at Houghton. Silofau finished up her week impressively, putting up 13 kills on an excellent .400 attack percentage as well as four digs and two blocks in the Hawks' 3-0 sweep over Keuka. It is her second E8 weekly honor of 2021.
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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