Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on September 6, 2021, for games played from September 1-September 5. It is the first 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 not only won the third annual Fisher-Rodenbeck Early Season Invitational Friday by just over a second but set a new meet record in the process. His 6,000-meter time of 19:32.0 set a new meet record and was a career-best time on his home course. He averaged a 5:14.3 mile time.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Amanda Burrichter, Houghton, Jr., Fillmore, NY/Fillmore
Burrichter finished in second place overall at the Highlander Short Course Invitational on Wednesday. Burrichter ran a time of 15:14.9 over the 4,000-meter course, which was the fastest time by any Empire 8 runner during the week and was the fastest time by a Houghton women's cross country runner over that distance since joining the NCAA Division III ranks in 2012.
FIELD HOCKEY
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Molly Fisher, St. John Fisher, Fr., F, Webster, NY/Webster Thomas
Fisher enjoyed an impressive debut in Cardinal and Gold as she tallied four goals in the season's first two games. On Wednesday, she opened the season by scoring a hat trick at William Smith. Saturday, Fisher scored the lone goal on a tip-in in the third quarter to lead the Cardinals to a 1-0 home win over Ithaca.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Hailey Wachowiak, Washington & Jefferson, So., F, Wexford, PA/North Allegheny
Wachowiak scored a hat trick in her first collegiate game versus The College of Wooster on Saturday afternoon. It was the first three-goal performance for a Presidents student-athlete since Alana Boyd scored three times against Elmira on Oct. 27, 2018. It was also the first game for Washington & Jefferson since Nov. 2, 2019, spanning 672 days.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Megan Makowski, Keuka, Sr., GK, Webster, NY/Webster Thomas
Makowski made 20 saves in two during the week, while recording one shutout. On Wednesday, she opened the season by making eight saves versus SUNY Brockport and followed that up with a 12-save shutout in a 3-0 win over Keystone. The 12 saves are a new career-high for Makowski.
FOOTBALL
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sonny Badyna, Utica, Jr., QB, Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter’s
Badyna went 27-for-44, throwing for 350 yards and three touchdowns and added two more rushing touchdowns to guide Utica in a 39-21 non-conference win over Alfred State on Saturday evening. Badyna fired touchdown passes of 19, 1 and 58 yards in the win.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brees Segala, Cortland, Sr., QB, Webster, NY/Webster Thomas
In his first collegiate start, Segala completed 20-of-29 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 39 yards and a score in Cortland's season-opening 38-16 victory at Wittenberg University Saturday. Segala tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth down in the second quarter to give the Red Dragons a 17-7 lead, and his 5-yard TD run later in the quarter pushed the lead to 24-7. He helped seal the victory with a 58-yard TD with 6:07 left in the contest that capped a 99-yard scoring drive.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lawrence Jenkins, Brockport, Sr., LB, Derby, NY/Lake Shore
Jenkins, a senior captain, returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown to give Brockport a 14-0 lead in the second quarter as Brockport topped Framingham on Saturday. He also added four tackles, 2.0 tackles for a loss of 11 yards and 1.0 sack as the Golden Eagles shut out host Framingham. He guided a defense that caused seven total turnovers and allowed just 103 yards of total offense.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Nate Palmer, Utica, Sr., WR/PR, Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill
Palmer totaled 68 yards on three punt returns including a 35-yard return in Utica’s 39-21 win over host Alfred State on Saturday. In addition, he added nine catches for 180 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown in the win. Overall, he recorded 248 yards on the day.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Stuart Phair, Russell Sage, Sr., Canberra, Australia/Trinity Christian
In the team's first match of the year, Phair had the best 18-hole round of his collegiate career, shooting a 77 after carding an impressive 35 on the back nine to finish fourth overall at the SUNY-Cobleskill Invitational Saturday. His strong round helped the Gators to a second place team finish
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Gavin Wise, Elmira, Sr., F, Elmira, NY/Elmira
Wise recorded three goals while helping Elmira to a perfect 2-0 start on the season last week. In Saturday's 8-0 win over Hilbert, Wise went for a natural hat-trick on the day in front of a large home crowd in his final season opener for the Purple & Gold. He scored goals in the 13th, 53rd and 61st minutes of play, which lifted Elmira’s lead from 1-0 to 4-0. Wise has now scored more goals through two games of the 2021 season than he did in any of his previous three seasons combined.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Giovanni Garufi, Elmira, Sr., GK, Binghamton, NY/Seton Catholic
Garufi was flawless in two games to start the 2021 season for Elmira, recording two clean sheets, while stopping five shots. He made five saves in the season-opening 3-0 win at Alfred State on Wednesday and was perfect in the 8-0 win over Hilbert Saturday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Carli Kovarik, St. John Fisher, Sr., F, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Kovarik enjoyed an excellent start to the 2021 season, scoring four goals and adding an assist in two wins for the Cardinals. On Wednesday, Kovarik notched a hat-trick and added an assist in a 9-0 win over Buffalo State. She followed that up by scoring the game-winning goal in the 87th minute on Saturday, as the Cardinals earned a 2-1 win at Washington & Jefferson.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Katline Cartwright, Alfred, Sr., D, LeRoy, NY/LeRoy
Cartwright anchored a defense that allowed just seven shots on goal and recorded two shutouts in a 1-0-2 week to start the 2021 season. Cartwright, a center back, was vital in preventing numerous dangerous goal-scoring opportunities, as the Saxons recorded shutouts versus Lancaster Bible and Penn State Harrisburg over the weekend.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sara Staup, Hartwick, Jr., GK, Woodinville, WA/Woodinville
Staup allowed just one goal over her first three collegiate starts this week, as Hartwick started the 2021 season by going 2-0-1. She started off with a clean sheet against Wells on Wednesday and followed that up by blanking Nichols, making two saves in Saturday's Brozman Cup opener. She ended the week with four more saves in Sunday's 1-1 draw against a tough Smith side. Smith’s lone goal came on a penalty kick.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Aliya Guzman, Nazareth, So., Penfield, NY/Fairport
Guzman recorded a pair of wins in the season-opening dual match against Geneseo, teaming up with Claire Pullen to earn an 8-6 victory at first doubles, while recording a 6-3, 6-1 win at first singles. Guzman followed that up by earning one singles win at the Mary Hosking Tournament, hosted by William Smith College over the weekend.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alea Steigerwald, St. John Fisher, Sr., OH, Penfield, NY/Penfield
Steigerwald, the reigning three-time Empire 8 Player of the Year, started the 2021 season off strong, averaging 3.63 points and 3.47 digs per set, as the Cardinals took on Geneseo, Ithaca, Johns Hopkins and nationally-ranked Juniata. She opened the season by slamming 18 kills in a three-set win over Geneseo Wednesday. On Friday, Steigerwald had 21 digs, 13 kills and seven assists in a five-set win over Ithaca. She added 10 kills in back-to-back matches versus Johns Hopkins and Juniata.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Tessa Grover, Nazareth, Fr., S/RS, Penfield, NY/Penfield
Grover enjoyed a great start to her collegiate career, averaging 3.46 assists and 3.44 points per set, while hitting an impressive .291. She dished out 45 assists, slammed 32 kills and added 27 digs, 10 blocks and seven service aces. She dished out 18 assists and added 11 digs against St. Lawrence Friday. On Saturday, Grover had 16 assists, 14 kills, five service aces and four blocks in a five-set win over Arcadia, before recording a triple-double with 12 kills, 11 assists and 11 digs versus Cortland.
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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