General | 3/15/2021 2:11:40 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on March 15, 2021 for games played from March 8-March 14. It is the third Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2020-21 season.
BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Wayne Rode, Houghton, Sr., UTIL, Thornton, CO/Holy Family
Rode exploded at the plate in his first week of the season for the Highlanders. Rode batted .636 (7-for-11) and enjoyed a 1.915 OPS with two triples, two doubles, four walks and six RBI while leading Houghton to a 4-0 start to the year with wins over Elmira (twice), Alfred State, and RIT.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – R.J. Kuruts, St. John Fisher, Sr., P, Forest City, PA/Forest City
Kuruts was untouchable last week as he was part of a combined no-hitter against Clarkson on Tuesday. Kuruts got the start and allowed just one walk over six innings while striking out a career-high 13 batters in all. In all, Kuruts retired 19 of 20 batters faced in the win.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Ryan Newtown, Houghton, Fr., P, Winthrop, NY/St. Lawrence
Newtown was an ace for the Highlanders in their opening week. He earned a 2-0 record with wins against Elmira and Alfred State. In two games, Newtown surrendered just one run in 13.0 innings of work while striking out eight and holding opposing hitters to a batting average of .188. On Friday, Newtown twirled a complete-game gem, scattering eight hits and just one run in the win over Alfred State.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brendan Trapper, St. John Fisher, Jr., F, Buffalo, NY/Canisius
Trapper averaged 27.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and two assists last week as the Cardinals went 1-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Trapper finished the week having shot 18-for-28 (.643) from the floor and 16-for-19 (.842) from the free throw line. Against Rochester on Wednesday, Trapper finished with a career-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 10-of-11 attempts at the stripe before adding a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in a win over Sage Sunday.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Damien Call, Utica, Fr., G/F, Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy
Call enjoyed a brilliant opening week for the Pioneers in contributing to a 3-0 start. He stuffed the stat sheet by averaging 8.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists, per game, while shooting 73 percent from the field for the week in wins over Elmira, Keuka, and Alfred. Call had 11 points in his debut during a win over Elmira, a game in which he went 5-of-5 from the field, had an assist, and five rebounds while also rocking the rim with some electrifying dunks. He had four points and six rebounds in Friday's win over Keuka and just missed a double-double with nine points, 12 rebounds, and a team-high five assists in Sunday's 89-57 win over Alfred.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jadyn Abrams, Nazareth, Jr., G/F, Bath, NY/Haverling
Abrams averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists per game, while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor as Nazareth split a pair of games. She scored 13 points and six boards in a tight loss to non-conference foe University of Rochester. On Saturday, Abrams added 18 points in just 15 minutes on 7-of-11 shooting in a win over Keuka.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Grace Rittenhouse, Alfred, Fr., G, Dansville, NY/Dansville
Rittenhouse scored a game-high 20 points and added 11 rebounds to go along with three steals in a win over Keuka Wednesday. It was Rittenhouse’s first collegiate double-double as she hit career-highs across the board. She was 7-of-11 from the floor (.636) and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. She pulled down a career-best six offensive rebounds and tied her best with five defensive caroms.
MEN’S LACROSSE
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Justin Mosher, Alfred, So., A, Hilton, NY/Hilton
Mosher flew past his career-high mark in goals and points as well as caused turnovers, ground balls, man-down goals and game-winning goals as the Saxons opened their season with a strong win over Elmira College. Mosher recorded seven goals and tacked on two assists for nine points, including the game-winner. Mosher also scored one goal in a man-down situation. He also led the Saxons in caused turnovers with three.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joe Post, St. John Fisher, Sr., F/O, Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua
Post helped lead Fisher to a pair of wins last week as the No. 13 Cardinals defeated Clarkson and SUNY Geneseo. Post combined to go 36-for-43 at the face-off X and had 24 groundballs. Against Clarkson he was 18-for-23 with eight GBs before going 18-for-20 against Geneseo with 16 GBs. The Canandaigua native also scored a goal and assisted on another.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Darin Eakins, St. John Fisher, Gr., GK, Hamburg, Germany/International School of Hamburg
Eakins earned two more wins in goal last week as the No. 13 Cardinals remained unbeaten after downing Clarkson and SUNY Geneseo. Eakins played all 120 minutes in goal and finished the week with an 8.00 goals against average to go along with 18 combined saves. Against Clarkson, Eakins allowed just six goals and stopped six shots before surrendering just six goals to the high-powered Geneseo offense. The graduate student made 12 saves in the win for his second straight E8 weekly honor.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emma States, Nazareth, So., A, Phoenix, NY/CW Baker
States scored nine goals in two games to open the season for Nazareth last week. She scored three times at nationally-ranked St. John Fisher Wednesday and added six tallies in a 13-9 win over Utica Saturday.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Claudia Mocciaro, St. John Fisher, Sr., GK, Syracuse, NY/West Genesee
Mocciaro was a force in net last week for the No. 13 Cardinals as the senior picked up two victories with wins over Nazareth and Clarkson. Mocciaro combined to make 10 saves over 111 minutes of action and finished the week with a 3.00 goals against average. In Fisher's 7-5 win over Nazareth, Mocciaro allowed five goals before yielding just one goal in Fisher's 16-5 win over Clarkson on Friday.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Noah Ewing, Houghton, Sr., M, Getzville, NY/Central Christian Academy
Ewing booted in the game-winning goal in Highlander's 1-0 victory over Elmira on Wednesday. Ewing's timely goal game in the 84th minute of play and proved to be the game-winner.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jadon Schlierf, St. John Fisher, Fr., GK, Rochester, NY/Spencerport
Schlierf made nine saves overall in the season-opening 2-1 win over Utica on Saturday. The first-year standout stopped all five of the shots that headed his direction after the Fisher offense came back to tie and eventually win the match in the second half.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Caleigh Cahoon, Nazareth, Sr., M, Sloatsburg, NY/Suffern
Cahoon recorded six points, with two goals and two assists as Nazareth opened the season with a 9-0 win over Elmira on Sunday.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Courtney Connolly, Utica, Fr., GK, Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley
Connolly was excellent in Utica's season opening win over Alfred on Sunday. The newcomer made three saves to earn the clean sheet in her first college appearance as the Pioneers struck for a pair of goals to win by a 2-0 score.
MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Cameron Fairley, Nazareth, Fr., Freestyle, Kingston, NY/Kingston
Fairley won a pair of individual events on Saturday versus Alfred, with victories in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.87) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:02.20). He was also the leadoff leg of the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:40.83) to open the meet.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Taylor Robey, Nazareth, Sr., Freestyle, Kingston, NY/Hurley
Robey broke a pair of pool records in a dual win over Alfred Saturday. She won the 50- and 100- yard freestyle events in record times of 24.29 and 53.55, respectively. The 50-free record was originally set in 2011 and the 100-yard record was set back in 1994. Robey also swan in two winning relays as she anchored the 200-yard medley and swan a record time in the lead leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay with a split of 24.15 to earn her second E8 weekly honor of the season.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ellen Collie, Utica, Fr., Harbor Springs, MI/Harbor Springs
Collie won both of her appearances in Saturday's 5-4 loss against St. John Fisher. The freshman defeated Mikayla Santulli with a 6-0, 6-0 at first singles. She then teamed up with classmate Ellen Lyga and won 8-3 at first doubles. She is undefeated in singles action with a 3-0 overall record.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Grant Stokoe, St. John Fisher, Jr., Distance, Cortland, NY/Homer
Stokoe took home two first-place finishes at the Houghton Highlander Invitational on Saturday. He came from behind in the 400-meter dash to claim the gold in 52.60 seconds. Later, he won the 3000-meter run after crossing the finish line in 9:04:00, 19 seconds faster than the next closest competitor.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Kaleb Luton, Nazareth, So., Sprints/Jumps, Amherst, NY/Sweet Home
Luton broke the Nazareth indoor record in the long jump Saturday with a first-place finish at the Houghton Invitational. His leap of 6.57 meters (21 feet, 6 3/4 inches) was more than four inches farther than his previous best in that event. He also finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.57, just a couple ticks shy of his personal best of 8.55. He also was seventh in the 200-meter dash (:24.15).
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Natalie Ricci, Russell Sage, Jr., Sprints, Cohoes, NY/Cohoes
Ricci, who is also a member of Sage's women's soccer team, was first in the 200-meter run with her time of 27.56 and also second in the 60 meter dash in 8.44 while competing at Utica Friday.
FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Jane Fahy, Utica, So., Throws, Oriskany, NY/Oriskany
Fahy had a great showing at the Hutton Dome in her UC debut during a dual meet win against Russell Sage College Friday. Fahy delivered a school record toss of 12.15 meters to win the shot put in her first meet as a Pioneer. That mark leads the Empire 8. She was also fifth in the weight throw during Friday's meet.
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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