Field Hockey | 10/3/2022 12:40:58 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on October 3, 2022, for games played from September 26-October 2. It is the fifth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2022-23 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, Sr., Endicott, NY/Owego Free Academy
Bowers clocked another personal record Friday, as he finished 13th in the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University. His time of 25:26.9 was 13 seconds better than his previous best effort over 8,000-meters. He led Nazareth to a third place team finish in the meet that featured 40 teams and 350 runners. It is Bowers’ second E8 weekly accolade of the 2022 season.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Emily Weaver, Nazareth, Sr., Martville, NY/Hannibal
Weaver ran ninth overall with a personal best time of 22:31.4 over the 6,000-meter course at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University. Her time was a personal record by more than a minute as she led the Golden Flyers to a ninth place team finish in the meet that featured 42 teams and nearly 350 runners. It is Weaver’s second E8 weekly accolade of the 2022 season.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Hailey Wachowiak, Washington & Jefferson, Jr., F, Wexford, PA/North Allegheny
Wachowiak scored a career-high four goals and added an assist in a 9-0 Empire 8 win over Russell Sage College on Sunday. She also tallied a goal in a non-conference loss at Allegheny Wednesday. Wachowiak leads the Empire 8 with 12 goals this season. It is her second E8 weekly honor of 2022.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Madison Tadusz, Houghton, So., GK, Lancaster, PA/Lancaster
Tadusz's goaltending helped Houghton win their fifth and sixth straight games last week. Tadusz accumulated double digit saves in a 3-2 overtime victory versus Brockport and turned away another half dozen shots in Houghton's 2-0 conference shutout of Nazareth, her fourth clean sheet of the season. She also sports a league best 1.51 goals against average on the year. It is her second E8 weekly honor of 2022.
FOOTBALL
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jaden Alfanostjohn, SUNY Cortland, So., RB, Westhampton, NY/Westhampton Beach
Alfanostjohn carried the ball 37 times for 247 yards (6.7 yards/carry, with a long of 23) and a touchdown in Cortland's 28-7 win over visiting Morrisville Saturday. The 247 rushing yards are tied for the third-highest single-game total in school history. He also caught two passes for 13 yards.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ben Damiani, SUNY Brockport, Sr., LB, Lancaster, NY/Lancaster
Damiani led a dominant effort from the Brockport defense in a 25-0 win over St. John Fisher. With six solo tackles and four assisted stops, he led the team with 10 total tackles. Damiani was in the backfield on multiple occasions, recording 1.0 sacks for nine yards, a quarterback hurry, and 3.0 tackles for a loss of 12 yards. The Golden Eagle defensive unit allowed a total of just 27 yards to the St. John Fisher offense in the win. Brockport improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Empire 8 after the shutout victory.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Joey Nare, Utica, Sr., PR/WR, Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie
Nare rattled off Utica's second punt return touchdown in as many weeks, as he ran one back from a distance of 67 yards in the fourth quarter of a 57-7 win over Hartwick. That win gave Utica its first 5-0 start in program history.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ryan Fecco, Oswego, Gr., Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker
Fecco shot the lowest score after the first 36 holes of the 2022-23 Empire 8 Championship, held at Timber Banks Golf Club in Baldwinsville, NY over the weekend. He fired a 10-over score of 154 over the two days, shooting back-to-back rounds of 77 to hold a two-stroke lead. He trailed by one stroke after Saturday before firing the lowest round on Sunday. The tournament concludes April 15-16, 2023, at Hershey Country Club in Hershey, PA. It is Fecco’s third E8 weekly honor of the 2022 season.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jake Zona, Hartwick, Sr., F, Liverpool, NY/Liverpool
Zona tallied three goals and an assist for seven points in a 2-0 week for Hartwick. He recorded a goal and an assist in a win over Delhi on Wednesday. Zona added a pair of goals, including the game-winning tally in a 4-0 win over Empire 8 foe Houghton University on Saturday afternoon.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Dante Gesamondo, Medaille, So., GK, Lynnfield, MA/Lynnfield
Gesamondo recorded a pair of shutouts for the Mavericks in goal, as he totaled eight saves in a 1-0-1 week. He made seven saves in a 3-0 shutout win over Alfred University on Saturday after recording a clean sheet in a scoreless draw versus Keuka on Wednesday.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jadon Schlierf, St. John Fisher, Jr., GK, Spencerport, NY/Spencerport
Schlierf recorded two shutouts for the Cardinals in goal, as he made nine saves in a 1-0-1 week. He started the week by making five saves in a scoreless draw versus No. 22 University of Rochester on Tuesday, Schlierf followed that up with four saves in a 2-0 shutout win over E8 foe Elmira on Saturday. He lowered his goals against average to 0.79 on the season. It is Schlierf’s second E8 weekly honor of the season.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Abby Scanlan, Alfred, Fr., F, Albion, NY/Charles D’Amico
Scanlan led Alfred to a pair of wins, totaling five points on two goals and an assist. In a non-conference matchup against Penn State Altoona on Wednesday, Scanlan scored a goal and added an assist during the team’s 3-1 victory. On Saturday, Scanlan scored the game-winning goal against Utica in a 1-0 victory.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alexandra Skoda, Nazareth, Jr., F, Rotterdam, NY/Mohansen
Skoda scored a natural hat trick over the first 15:55 of Saturday’s contest, an 8-0 win over Elmira. The previous school record for fastest hat trick was 20:18.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Annika Monfort, Nazareth, So., GK, Ontario, NY/Webster Thomas
Monfort recorded a pair of shutouts in a 1-0-1 week with 11 total saves. She made 10 saves in scoreless draw versus RIT on Tuesday, as Nazareth was out shot 20-6 in the match. She made one save in the 8-0 win over Elmira Saturday.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Phoebe Olson, Hartwick, Fr., Jamestown, ND/Jamestown
Olson helped the Hawks improve to 9-0 with wins over St. John Fisher and Nazareth during the weekend. Olson picked up wins at second doubles and second singles in matches against St. John Fisher and Nazareth. Before Sunday, the Hawks were 0-25 against the Golden Flyers. Olson only dropped eight games across the two singles matches played and along with her doubles partner Lily Vanuga, defeated their opponents from St. John Fisher by a score of 8-0.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sydney French, St. John Fisher, Sr., OH, Marcellus, NY/Marcellus
French led St. John Fisher to a 3-0 record, all against Empire 8 competition. In the three matches, she totaled 25 kills on 49 attempts with just two errors for a hitting percentage of .469. In addition, she collected an assist, three digs and three total blocks to finish with 27.0 points on the week. She hit .476 with 11 kills in a decisive three-set win over Hartwick Saturday, who had also come into the match undefeated in league play.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Haley Unverdorben, Houghton, Gr., S, Portville. NY/Portville
Unverdorben dished out 81 assists to go with 11 kills on 23 attempts (a .478 hitting percentage), while leading the Highlanders to three separate three-set sweeps last week. In addition, Unverdorben surpassed 2,500 collegiate assists for her career in the win over Alfred on Friday. It is her second E8 weekly honor of 2022.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Kiera Hartpence, St. John Fisher, Fr., L, Scotia, NY/Burnt Hills
Hartpence continued her strong first year, helping the team go 3-0 this week, all against conference opponents. Defensively, she totaled 32 digs with only one receiving error. She also added six service aces, to bring her total to 16 on the year. It is her second E8 weekly honor of 2022.
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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