General | 10/20/2025 1:00:00 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on October 20, 2025, for games played from October 13 – October 19. It is the eighth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2025-26 season. Sports featured include men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Ryan Hagan, SUNY Geneseo, Sr., Liverpool NY/Liverpool
In a race featuring 12 nationally ranked teams, Ryan Hagan placed second overall out of 269 student-athletes at the Connecticut College Invite on Saturday with a blistering time of 23:53.67 over the 8,000-meter course (4:48.4-mile rate). Hagan's second place finish led the Knights to a third-place finish overall, beating out No. 4 NYU by four points. It is Hagan’s third E8 weekly accolade of 2025.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Ann Brennan, SUNY Geneseo, Sr., Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima
In a race featuring 16 nationally ranked teams, including the top five teams in the country, Ann Brennan placed 23rd overall out of 271 student-athletes at the Connecticut College Invite on Saturday. Brennan's time of 21:24.09 over the 6,000-meter course (5:44.4-mile rate) led the Knights to a ninth-place team finish. It is Brennan’s third E8 weekly accolade of 2025.
FIELD HOCKEY
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Michaela Cushman, Nazareth, So., F/M, Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent
Cushman tallied seven points on three goals and one assist in two wins for Nazareth, as they moved to 6-1 in E8 play
. On Tuesday, she notched a goal and an assist in 8-0 win over Morrisville and followed that up by posting her fourth two-goal game of the season with two goals in 6-2 victory over E8 foe SUNY Brockport on Saturday. Cushman now has 31 points on the season (12 goals and seven assists) and is second in the league averaging 2.38 points per game. It is her second straight E8 weekly accolade.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alanna Fragapane, Utica, Sr., F, Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy
Fragapane helped Utica put forth two outstanding offensive performances this past week, using her four goals and one assist to help the squad pile up nine total points in a 1-1 week. Fragapane’s biggest contribution was her seven-point performance on Saturday against Elmira, a game in which she nabbed her second career hat-trick, scoring three goals and adding an assist. Earlier in the week, Fragapane also netted the Pioneers’ opening score, helping knot the game at one apiece on the road at St. John Fisher.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ava Reynolds, Hartwick, So., GK, South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls
Reynolds excelled in the cage for the Hawks, stopping seven shots and allowing just two goals in wins over SUNY Cortland and St. John Fisher. She made five saves in a 2-1 overtime victory over SUNY Cortland Wednesday and made a pair of stops in a 5-1 victory over St. John Fisher Saturday. It is Reynolds’ second E8 weekly honor of 2025.
FOOTBALL
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mike Rescigno, SUNY Cortland, So., QB, Arlington, NY/Arlington
Rescigno accounted for six total scores, as he completed 11-of-17 passes for 159 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 105 yards and two scores in Cortland's 65-12 win over visiting Alfred University on Saturday. He reached the 100-yard rushing mark for the fifth consecutive game. All four of his TD passes (19, 4, 32 and 6 yards), and one of his rushing scores, came in the first half to help the Red Dragons take a 42-3 lead. He also ran 60 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. It is Rescigno’s second E8 weekly honor of 2025.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Colton Thorp, SUNY Brockport, So., DB, Hilton, NY/Hilton
Thorp made several big plays for Brockport's defense in a dominating 48-14 win over Alfred State on Saturday. To go with a solo tackle in the secondary, Thorp also played great coverage to break up a career-high four passes in the contest.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Zach McGowan, SUNY Brockport, Jr., K, Tonawanda, NY/Sweet Home
McGowan had a busy day kicking for Brockport both on extra points and on the kickoff for the special teams unit. In Brockport's, 48-14, win over Alfred State on Saturday, McGowan was 6-for-7 on extra points for the Golden Eagles. On the kickoff, he totaled 523 kicking yards with seven touchbacks on eight attempts.
MEN’S SOCCER
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Juan Jose Menendez Guttierez, Alfred, Jr., M, Madrid, Spain/Woodstock Academy
Menendez Gutierrez tallied three points against two of the top-ranked teams in the Empire 8 this past week in Brockport and Geneseo. Against Brockport, Menendez Gutierrez was credited with two shots on goal across a full 90 minutes from the midfield. In a 2-2 draw against Geneseo on Saturday, Menendez Gutierrez finished the game with three points from one goal and one assist. A pass from Menendez Gutierrez to teammate Hamza Kromah in the 58th minute gave Alfred University the initial lead. After the Knights responded with two goals of their own, Menendez Gutierrez found the back of the net in the 71st minute.
CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Dylan Thody, SUNY Geneseo, Sr., F, Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman
Thody played a key role this week for the Knights as they remained undefeated in Empire 8 play. Thody assisted on the game-winning goal in the closing minutes of a 1-0 win over Nazareth on Wednesday, then scored the second goal of Geneseo's 2-2 tie at Alfred on Saturday.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Blake Petocchi, St. John Fisher, Sr., D, Fairport, NY/Fairport
Petocchi tallied a pair of assists and led a Fisher defense that didn't allow a goal in clean sheet wins over Houghton University on Wednesday and Hartwick on Saturday. The fifth-year senior defender tallied a career-high two assists in Fisher's 3-0 victory over Houghton on Wednesday, while the Cardinals earned a 1-0 win over Hartwick Saturday. St. John Fisher has allowed just one goal in six games this month.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Gianna Viscusi, Russell Sage, Sr., F, Duanesburg, NY/Schalmont
Viscusi recorded 12 points on five goals and two assists to lead Russell Sage to a pair of Empire 8 wins against SUNY Poly and Keuka. She scored the eventual game-winning goal in a 3-1 win over Poly on Wednesday. On Saturday, Viscusi set an Empire 8 and program single-game record with ten points on four goals and two assists in a 6-0 win over Keuka. Viscusi scored a trio of goals in the first half to help the Gators hold a 4-0 lead at the break. She added a fourth goal late in the second half.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ryann Dauksza, St. John Fisher, Sr., D, Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius
Dauksza tallied three assists and played a key role on defense as the Cardinals shut out Houghton 4-0 and Hartwick 3-0 last week to improve to 8-4-2 overall and 7-1-1 in the Empire 8. Dauksza recorded her second multi-assist performance of the season against Houghton on Wednesday and dished out an assist in the win over Hartwick on Saturday.
MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Youssef amr Abdallatif, Alfred, Fr., Backstroke/Individual Medley, Cairo, Egypt/Raya Language School
In the Saxons’ season and home-opener against RIT, Abdallatif was flawless with four victories as the Saxons battled the Tigers. Abdallatif added esteemed recognition to his performances by breaking not one, not two, but three Alfred University McLane Natatorium pool records. Abdallatif clocked a time of 50.47 in the 100-yard backstroke to break the previous record of 51.90 and then posted a 51.39 to break a 34-year-old time of 51.66 in the 100-yard butterfly. Abdallatif broke Hartwick College’s Matt Plunkett’s 2015 pool record time of 1:54.55 in the 200-yard backstroke by reaching the wall in a time of 1:53.85. Abdallatif’s first win of the evening was when he joined Carlos Gonzalez, Andre Ayala and Calem Striker in the 200-yard medley relay, swimming the opening backstroke leg. The team won with a time of 1:36.26.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK – Sibby Lowe, SUNY Geneseo, Fr., Freestyle/Butterfly, Horseheads, NY/Horseheads
Lowe led Geneseo to season-opening wins over Brockport, Penn St. Behrend, and Grove City at the Knights quad meet on Saturday. Lowe won a total of four events at the meet, picking up individual wins in the 50-yard freestyle (24.36), and the 100-yard butterfly (58.67). In the relays, she was on the winning 200-yard medley relay team who posted a time of 1:46.30, and the 200-yard freestyle relay team who took first at 1:37.59.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Phoebe Olson, Hartwick, Sr., Jamestown, ND/Jamestown
Olson was named the 2025 Empire 8 Women’s Tennis Championship Most Valuable Player, going 2-0 at first doubles with Gianna Leggieri, while securing the decisive point at second singles in the title match on Saturday against SUNY Geneseo. Olson and Leggieri earned a 6-2 win at first doubles over Elizabeth Madsen and Alina Zabihailo of Alfred on Friday, as Hartwick won the match, 4-0. On Saturday, Olson and Leggieri defeated JoAnn Catalano and Natalie Pipes of Geneseo, 6-2 in doubles action. Olson would secure the win for Hartwick at second singles, earning a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Samantha Rava to score Hartwick’s fourth point.
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK – Samantha Lantzy, Hartwick, So., Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK – Lily Vanuga, Hartwick, Sr., Springville, NY/Springville-Griffith Institute
Lantzy and Vanuga were in control in both of their second doubles contests in helping leading Hartwick to its second straight Empire 8 Championship over the weekend. On Friday, Lantzy and Vanuga earned a decisive 6-1 over Alyssa Seegert and Becca Epping of Alfred in the semifinal match. The following afternoon, the duo blanked Rachel Malloy and Samantha Rava of SUNY Geneseo, 6-0, as Hartwick would defeat Knights by a team score of 4-1 in the title match. It is their second E8 Doubles Team of the Week honor.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Braelyn Hornick, Hartwick, Sr., S, Candor, NY/Candor
Hornick continues to conduct the potent Hawks attack with high efficiency, guiding the Hawks to a flawless 3-0 week, including two conference wins over Alfred and Houghton. Hornick compiled 125 assists, averaging 10.5 helpers per set, while adding in four aces, seven kills, and 24 digs. Hornick averaged 11.75 assists per set in the two conference matches, including a season high 54 assists vs Alfred and 40 assists in just three sets en route to handing Houghton their first conference loss.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Luba Butcher, SUNY Brockport, Fr., OH, White Plains, NY/White Plains
Butcher consistently made an impact for Brockport in a 3-0 week across three consecutive Empire 8 wins during the past week. She racked up totals of 31 kills, 23 digs, seven total blocks, and two service aces, while averaging 4.22 points per set. She had 12 kills and 11 digs in a three-set win over SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday and hit .333 with 11 kills in a three-set victory over SUNY Poly Saturday.