NEWTOWN, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has announced its conference weekly award recipients for the week ending October 1, 2023. A total of 18 student-athletes were recognized for performances from Sept. 25, 2023 to Oct. 1, 2023.
CROSS COUNTRY (#MACxc)
MAC Men’s Co-Runner of the Week
Hayden Schindler (Stevenson / Sr. / Baltimore, Md.) finished first in the men's 8K at the Don Cathart Invitational at Salisbury University with a time of 25:25.30. Not only did he shave 2:30 off his time from the same meet just a year ago, he set a new personal record in the 8K.
MAC Men’s Co-Runner of the Week
Matt Santana (Lebanon Valley / Fr. / New Tripoli, Pa.) finished 32nd overall out of 376 runners in the White Race at the Paul Short Run on Saturday to lead the Dutchmen to an eighth-place team finish. The first-year standout averaged 5:23.2 per mile over the muddy 8,000-meter course to cross the line in 26:46.7 as the Dutchmen competed for the first time in three weeks. Santana started out with a 5:20.3 first mile and was 106th and continued to pass runners as the race went on. He moved up to 53rd by the time he got to the 5,000-meter mark and passed the final 10 runners over the course of the last mile. As a team, LVC scored 316 points and finished ahead of Saint Vincent who was ranked one spot ahead of the Dutchmen in this week's USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings.
MAC Women’s Runner of the Week
Paige Jarrahian (Alvernia / Fr. / Staten Island, N.Y.) paced Alvernia to a 3rd place finish out of 13 teams on Saturday at the Salisbury Dan Cathcart Invitational. Jarrahian raced the 6K course in a personal best time of 24:18.70 finishing 11th overall.
FIELD HOCKEY (#MACfh)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Olivia Miller (York / Fr., F / Frederick, Md.) powered the #8 Spartans to a 2-0 week as the Green and White outscored their two opponents by a combined total of 7-1. In the win over Susquehanna, Miller assisted Katie Martino in the Spartans' first goal of the day, 20 minutes into the contest. On Saturday against Misericordia, Miller scored the Spartans' first goal of the day in the 23rd minute of the contest to give York the 1-0 lead. She then assisted on York's third goal of the game 2:18 into the third quarter. The three points in the win ties her career high set in the win over #2 Johns Hopkins on September 6. For the season, the freshman forward has nine points on three goals and three assists. She has two game-winning goals for the Green and White.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Allie Mast (Messiah / Sr., D / Lewisburg, Pa.) led the Falcons defense to two shutout wins over No. 12 Rowan and Montclair St. this week. Mast totaled a defensive save in the win against Rowan that prevented the tying goal. Again in Saturday's 1-0 win at Montclair St., Mast made two key defensive saves in the first quarter to keep the Red Hawks from scoring and taking an early lead.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Ashley Thalassinos (King’s / Sr., M / Matamoras, Pa.) recorded five points on two goals and an assist off eight shots with five on target. She started the week with two shots in a 2-1 loss to Drew before exploding for a career day, scoring her first two career goals and assisting on a third on six shots with five on frame in a 4-1 senior day win over Manhattanville.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Lily Wierzbicki (Stevens / So., GK / Davis, Calif.) made five saves over 90 minutes without allowing a goal in a 2-0 week for Stevens. The second-year netminder made one save over a scoreless first half against Montclair State and then spun her first career shutout with a four-save effort in a 2-0 non-conference victory over Albright.
MEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Sean Fatiga (Widener / Sr., F / Swedesboro, N.J) started and played in all two games this week for the Pride. In a Tuesday evening 3-2 win over Stevens, Fatiga scored two goals after a quiet first half. Fatiga would go on to tie the game at 2 in the 62nd minute of play and would help lead the Pride offense to an 89th minute goal with a perfect 3-for-3 on shots and shots on goal. In the first MAC Commonwealth game on Saturday, Fatiga would open the scoring for the Pride in the 19th minute of play to overtake the number one spot in Widener history for career goals with 39. On the day Fatiga would score two more goals for a hat trick and take five shots with four on target to advance the Pride to a 4-0 win over York.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Nick Humphries (Hood / Jr., GK / Potomac, Md.) posted a pair of shutouts as Hood extended its win streak to three straight. Made eight saves in a 1-0 win over Marywood on 9/27, then stopped two shots as the Blazers blanked Eastern in conference play on 9/30. Had a 1.000 save pct. and 0.00 GAA.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Nathan Prex (Lebanon Valley / So., F / Cranberry Township, Pa.) had an unbelievable week to lead the Dutchmen to two big road wins with six goals. The sophomore was a focal point of the Dutchmen's offense scoring six of the team's eight goals on 15 total shots and 11 shots on goal. In a 3-1 victory at Elizabethtown to begin the week, Prex scored in the 16th minute and the 63rd minute. The forward outdid that performance on Saturday as he tied the program record with four goals in a 5-2 victory at Misericordia to begin conference play. Prex scored the first goal of the game in the 35th minute. Misericordia scored in the 70th minute to take the lead before Prex tied the game up two minutes later. The sophomore added two more goals in the 83rd and 88th minutes to put the game out of reach. It is the first time since 2012 a Dutchman has scored three goals in a game and Prex tied a record that was set in 1999.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Dalton Fitterling (Lebanon Valley / Sr., GK / Womelsdorf, Pa.) made nine saves while facing 24 shots in two big road victories for the Dutchmen this week. The senior stopped four shots and faced a season-high 13 shots in a 3-1 victory at Elizabethtown on Wednesday evening where the Blue Jays scored in the 84th minute of the match. The senior finished the week with five saves in a 5-2 victory at Misericordia to begin MAC Freedom play. Fitterling held the Cougars off the board for the final 20 minutes as the Dutchmen rattled off four goals to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 victory. The keeper made four saves in the second half.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Morgan Joyce (York / Jr., CB / Roxbury, N.J.) led the Spartan to two more wins this week as the Green and White have won four straight. Joyce scored the biggest goal of her career on Saturday as she drove home a header off a corner with just 58 seconds left as York downed Widener 1-0 in the Commonwealth opener for both squads. Joyce also anchored a strong defensive effort as the Spartans picked up their second straight shutout. Earlier in the week, Joyce and the Spartans earned a 2-0 road win at Susquehanna. For the season, Joyce has eight points on four goals with two of those four goals being game-winners. She has scored her four goals on seven total shots while she is also 2-for-2 on penalty kicks.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Madison O’Brien (York / So., GK / Mount Airy, Md.) led the Spartans to a pair of shutout wins this week including a dramatic 1-0 win over Widener on Saturday to open MAC Commonwealth play. In the win over Widener on Saturday, O'Brien made a career-high eight saves in the win as she faced nine shots and earned her second career clean sheet as the Spartans notched the game-winning goal with 58 seconds left in regulation. Earlier in the week, she earned her first collegiate shutout in the win at Susquehanna. For the year, O'Brien has played 209:20 of shutout soccer since taking over the Spartans' goaltending job.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Emma Sweitzer (Misericordia / Sr., F / Dallas, Pa.) had two goals and two assists in a 5-0 win over Lebanon Valley in the MAC Freedom opener. Scored the third and fourth goals and assisted on the second and fifth goals.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Aspen Wallin (King’s / Sr., GK / Providence, Utah) picked up 10 saves in goal with a .909 saves percentage and 0.50 goals against average as the King's College Monarchs posted a 1-1 record on the week, falling to Lycoming College 1-0 and topping Arcadia University 2-0. Wallin only surrendered one goal against Lycoming with six saves, and on Saturday she recorded four saves in her clean sheet against the Knights to begin MAC Freedom play. Wallin has yet to surrender a goal on home turf this year.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (#MACvb)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Morgan Nolte (York / So., MH / Townsend, Del.) led the Spartan offensive effort with 42 kills and a 3.82 kills/set average for the week while hitting an impressive .565. Nolte put together a banner performance to fuel York's comeback victory over Alvernia as she racked up a career-best 21 kills, including four in the fifth set, while hitting .455 on the night. The sophomore compiled 21 more kills (3.5 kps) on a staggering .690 attack percentage on Saturday to lead York to two more wins as the Spartans went 3-0 for the week and remained undefeated (6-0) at home.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Abigail McGinley (Alvernia / Jr., L / Jim Thorpe, Pa.) finished with 44 digs and 34 service receptions, with just one receiving error. She also finished the week with four aces and a kill. In a 3-2 setback to York on Tuesday, McGinley had 27 digs and 23 receptions. In a 3-0 win over Neumann on Thursday, McGinley finished with 17 digs and 11 receptions. She also recorded an impressive kill against the Knights on a rescue dig from off the court.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Taylor McInerney (Lebanon Valley / Sr., OH / Annville, Pa.) led the Dutchmen to a 2-1 week with 62 kills in 10 sets played while hitting .320. The senior had 6.20 kills per set and had three service aces. She was also a factor defensively with 23 digs and two total blocks. McInerney began the week with 30 kills and an impressive .392 hitting percentage in a 3-1 conference victory at King's. The senior had two service aces, 10 digs, and a block against the Monarchs. The outside hitter had 23 kills, a service ace, and nine digs in a 3-1 defeat at Messiah on Saturday. She finished the week with nine kills and a .313 hitting percentage in two sets of a 3-0 victory over Rosemont. The senior also had a solo block and four digs against the Ravens.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Morgan Williams (King’s / So., L / Colonia, N.J.) had a total of 74 digs across four games in the Monarchs 1-3 week. She had a total of 18.5 digs a game and 4.93 digs a set. Williams aided in the win against Valley Forge as she had a whopping 29 digs on Thursday night.