General | 10/4/2021 12:58:00 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on October 4, 2021, for games played from September 27-October 3. It is the fifth 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 – Nathan Bowers, Nazareth, Jr., Endicott, NY/Owego Free Academy
Bowers clocked a personal record with a time of 25:39.6 in the 8,000-meter Men’s Collegiate Brown event at the Paul Short Run hosted by Division I Lehigh University on Friday. He recorded a speedy mile rate of 5:09.7.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Riley Corey, St. john Fisher, Jr., Waterloo, NY/Waterloo
Corey finished in 10th place overall at the Mike Woods Invite on Saturday hosted by SUNY Geneseo, as her final time of 22:35.2 and 6:04 mile pace set a 34-second personal best time in the 6,000-meter event. It is Corey’s second E8 weekly honor of the 2021 season.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Bre Socker, St. John Fisher, Gr., F, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Socker set two records and tied two others in Friday’s 7-0 win over Empire 8 foe Russell Sage. She scored five goals in Friday’s win, tying her own E8 and St. John Fisher single-game mark. In addition, Socker also broke St. John Fisher’s career goal scoring record and tied the Empire 8's career mark with 84 career tallies and became the conference's all-time leader in career points with 205. Socker shattered the previous Empire 8 record of 199 points, held by Utica's Hannah Mackey, who played from 2011-14.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Anastasia Godat, Washington & Jefferson, So., GK, Baltimore, MD/Concordia Prep
Godat recorded six saves in a 5-0 shutout victory Saturday at Elmira. It was Godat’s second shutout of the season, which ties her for the most among all Empire 8 goalkeepers.
FOOTBALL
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jala Coad, Brockport, Jr., RB, Amityville, NY/Amityville
Coad carried the ball 45 times for a career-high 240 yards en route to eclipsing 2,000 yards rushing for his career as the Golden Eagles won their fourth straight Courage Bowl at St. John Fisher, 34-7, Saturday night. He also added three touchdowns on the ground to help the Golden Eagles improve to 3-1 on the year. Coad now has 2,106 career rushing yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. His 45 rushing attempts were a career-high and fell just two shy of the school-record set by Adam Webster back in 2002. He leads the Empire 8 with seven total touchdowns this season and he leads the league and ranks ninth nationally with an average of 139.3 yards rushing per contest.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lawrence Jenkins, Brockport, Sr., LB, Derby, NY/Lake Shore
Jenkins returned an interception 72 yards for a score to hand the Golden Eagles a commanding 10-0 lead at the 6:53 mark of the first quarter in Saturday’s Courage Bowl win over Fisher. Jenkins has now returned two interceptions for touchdowns this season. He also finished the night with three tackles as the stout Brockport defense held St. John Fisher to -2 yards rushing on the night. It is the second E8 weekly honor of 2021 for Jenkins.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Maki Medici, Utica, Gr., K/P, Watervliet, NY/Shaker
Medici hit all three of his field goal attempts for the second consecutive week and added an extra point in Saturday’s 16-10 win at Hartwick. Medici was good on field goals from 45 and 38 yards in the second quarter and added a 29-yard boot early in the fourth quarter. He also averaged 39.5 yards on five punts, pinning Hartwick inside their own 20-yard line once. Medici earned his second straight Empire 8 weekly accolade.
MEN’S GOLF
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ryan Fecco, Oswego, Sr., Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker
Fecco is tied for first with Utica’s Josh Kienz after the opening two rounds of the Empire 8 Championship after shooting 154 over the weekend. Fecco shot an opening round 75 on Saturday to sit in second after the first round and moved up a spot with a 79 through the rain on Sunday at Timber Banks Golf Club.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Josh Kienz, Utica, Gr., Newburgh, NY/Valley Central
Kienz, the defending Empire 8 Champion, is tied for first with Oswego’s Ryan Fecco after the opening two rounds of the Empire 8 Championship after shooting 154 over the weekend. Kienz shot an opening round 77 on Saturday to sit in fourth after the first round and moved up with his second straight round of 77 through the rain on Sunday at Timber Banks Golf Club.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Drew Decker, Nazareth, Fr., B, Clifton Park, NY/Christian Brothers
Decker scored a goal and tied a school record with three assists as Nazareth defeated Empire 8 foe Russell Sage by a score of 6-1 on Saturday afternoon. Decker opened the scoring in the 14th minute and added assists on Nazareth’s second, third and fourth tallies. The win was the seventh straight for Nazareth, who is now 8-1-1 in 2021. Decker is now a two-time Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week in 2021.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Foti Xidias, Utica, So., GK, Carteret, NJ/Carteret
Xidias recorded his second shutout of the season in Utica’s 1-0 win over Elmira College on Saturday afternoon. Xidias recorded five saves on 11 shots, lowering his season goals against average to 0.97.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Abigail Austin, Alfred, Sr., F, Hornell, NY/Hornell
Austin had a four-goal week to help the Saxons go 1-1 in a pair of games. She recorded her first collegiate hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Medaille on Wednesday, helping the Saxons limit the Mavericks to zero shots in the game. She scored the opening goal of the game and added a pair of second half tallies, as she fired seven shots on goal in total. Austin also scored Alfred’s second goal in a 4-3 overtime loss at Utica on Saturday.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Annika Monfort, Nazareth, Fr., GK, Ontario, NY/Webster Thomas
Monfort finished with 12 saves as she recorded a pair of shutouts in 1-0-1 week for the Golden Flyers. She started the week by stopping 10 shots in a scoreless tie at RIT, who is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Division III national poll. Monfort closed out the week by stopping a pair of shots in 1-0 win at Elmira.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jade Killikelly, Hartwick, So., Jamaica, NY/The Mary Louis Academy
Killikelly went undefeated in Hartwick's two conference wins over the weekend, helping the Hawks clinch an Empire 8 Tournament spot in the process. In Friday's 8-0 win over Russell Sage, Killikelly and top doubles partner Victoria Wilson outlasted the Gators' top pairing 8-7 (7-0 in the tiebreak). Killikelly was perhaps on her way to a win at top singles before the matchup was called due to darkness after two sets. She got both of her wins on Saturday vs. Alfred, however, and they both were sorely needed in the Hawks' slim 5-4 win. She and Wilson won 7-5 at No. 1 doubles, and the Killikelly cruised by her opponent at top singles in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sarah Raeman, Alfred, Gr., OH, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua
Raeman hit .321 with 38 kills, 10 digs, four blocks and three service aces for 43.5 points in three matches for the Saxons. Raeman opened the week by recorded a season-high .412 hitting percentage against Houghton, totaling 18 kills on 34 attacks with six digs and three assisted blocks. She closed out the week with a .346 hitting percentage at SUNY Oneonta on 12 kills, leading Alfred to their first win over the Red Dragons since 2003.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Kaileigh Brandow, Hartwick, So., OH, Manorville, NY/Eastport South Manor
Brandow nearly recorded first career double-double in Tuesday's three-set sweep of Keystone. She had nine kills on an excellent .500 hitting percentage, and also contributed eight digs to the victory, as Hartwick improved to 10-2 in 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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