NEWTOWN, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has announced its conference weekly award recipients for the week ending September 10. A total of 21 student-athletes were recognized for performances from Sept. 4 to Sept. 10.
CROSS COUNTRY (#MACxc)
MAC Men's Runner of the Week
Matthew Santana (Lebanon Valley / Fr. / New Tripoli, Pa.) led the Dutchmen to a third-place team finish at the Dutchmen Invitational finishing 11th out of 153 collegiate runners with an 8,000-meter time of 26:39.4. He was the fifth Division III runner to cross the finish line on a hot day. Santana averaged 5:21.7 per mile in a meet that included runners from Division I, II, and III. The Dutchmen finished third as a team. Division I Seton Hall won while Ursinus College was second. The Dutchmen scored the same number of points as the Bears but lost the tie-breaker.
MAC Women's Runner of the Week
Lauren Bunke (Lebanon Valley / Gr. / Bethlehem, Pa.) was the first collegiate finisher and finished second overall out of 193 runners at the Dutchmen Invitational on Saturday. Bunke ran a career-best 5,000-meter time of 18:27.7 pulling away from the collegiate field a little over a half mile into the race and finishing 13 seconds ahead of the next collegiate finisher in a race that featured runners from Division I, II, and III schools. She averaged 5:56.5 per mile and was only defeated by LVC alum, former MAC Champion, and 2023 LVC Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Jenn Cronin who finished in 18:15.9. Bunke led the Dutchmen to a third-place team finish at the meet.
FIELD HOCKEY (#MACfh)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Aubrey Clark (Messiah / Fr., F / Etters, Pa.) led the Falcons offense on the week with two goals in two games. The first year forward scored the lone goal in the 1-0 win at No. 19 Franklin and Marshall on Wednesday. Also, Clark added five shots with two shots on goal. In Messiah's 2-1 overtime win against the fourth-ranked Sea Gulls of Salisbury University, Clark scored the tying goal in regulation. Clark's offensive presence was felt throughout the whole game, as she had three shots with all three being on goal. Clark has had a great start to her Falcons career, with goals in each of Messiah's first three games.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Belle Fields (York / Jr., GK / Centreville, Md.) spearheaded a Spartan defense that allowed one goal in two games as York went 2-0 on the week. The week began with a 3-1 win over #2 Johns Hopkins on Wednesday night. In the win over Hopkins, Fields recorded four saves including two in the third quarter as the Jays were pushing to tie the game. On Saturday, Fields notched her second shutout of the year as she notched two saves in her 60 minutes of work. For the year, Fields is 3-0 with a 0.33 goals against average and a .875 save percentage.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Lynda Farinella (Stevens / Gr., M / South Plainfield, N.J.) forced overtime with a penalty-stroke goal in the 57th minute as the Ducks defeated No. 18 Rochester for the program’s first-ever road victory over a nationally ranked opponent.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Maria Dante (Stevens / Fr., GK / Clark, N.J.) earned the first two wins of her career as Stevens defeated Moravian and No. 18 Rochester via identical 2-1 margins. Against the Yellowjackets, Dante was outstanding making 17 saves in helping the Ducks to a penalty-stroke victory – the first road win over a nationally ranked team in program history.
FOOTBALL (#MACfb)
MAC Offensive Player of the Week
Braden Bohannon (Lebanon Valley / Jr., QB / Myerstown, Pa.) led the Dutchmen to an important 45-38 victory at Stevenson by throwing for 226 yards and two touchdowns, rushing for 59 yards, and scoring what ended up being the game-winning touchdown. His 226 passing yards on 16 completions was a career-high and he spread the ball around with 10 different receivers having a reception. Bohannon gave the Dutchmen a 45-31 lead with 8:44 left in the fourth quarter on a six-yard touchdown run. The junior had touchdown passes of 30 and 16 yards and his longest pass of the afternoon was 49 yards.
MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Nick Morder (Lebanon Valley / Sr., CB / Palmyra, Pa.) helped the Dutchmen defeat Stevenson 45-38 on the road to start MAC play with four solo tackles and a huge 45-yard interception return for a touchdown. The cornerback shut down his assignment all afternoon and came up big in the third quarter with a huge interception. He wrapped up a 17-point third quarter for the Dutchmen that turned a halftime deficit into a 14-point lead with a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown to make it 38-24 with 2:51 left to play in the quarter.
MAC Special Teams Player of the Week
Jeremy Bours Jr. (Lebanon Valley / Sr., P/WR / Cleona, Pa.) had a great day on special teams to lead the Dutchmen to a thrilling 45-38 victory at Stevenson. The senior threw a seven-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt in the second quarter to tie the game up at 14. The senior punted three times for 115 yards averaging 38.3 yards per punt and a long of 48.
MEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Justin Fetrow (Alvernia / Jr., M/F / Birdsboro, Pa.) finished with two goals in Alvernia's 1-1 week. Fetrow scored the game-tying goal in the 71st minute at Lancaster Bible to tie the game up at 2-2. He then scored the game winner in the 85th minute for the 3-2 win for the Golden Wolves.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Ryan Van Pelt (Widener / Sr., GK / Doylestown, Pa.) finished with six saves on six shots on goal in a 1-0 victory over Swarthmore College.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Tristen Castellani (DeSales / Jr., M / Augusta, N.J.) scored three goals leading the DeSales men's soccer team to a 1-0 record last week, a 4-1 win over Cabrini University, in its lone game of the week.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Dalton Fitterling (Lebanon Valley / Sr., GK / Womelsdorf, Pa.) made nine saves in goal to power the Dutchmen to a 1-1-0 week on the road against a pair of regionally-ranked opponents. He had a 1.50 GAA and a .750 save percentage in 180 minutes of action. The senior made four saves and faced seven shots in a tough 3-2 defeat at 18th-ranked Franklin & Marshall to begin the week. He then picked up a shutout win as the Dutchmen defeated Penn State Harrisburg 1-0 on Saturday evening. Fitterling made five saves and faced five shots against the Lions.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Cassidy Butler (Stevenson / Gr., M / Stafford, Va.) had a six-point week and led the Mustangs to a 2-0 week. Against Delaware Valley, Butler dished out an assist and two goals, which were Stevenson's last two goals to take the 5-3 win. On Saturday, Butler put up a corner kick to assist the game-winning goal to secure the 1-0 win over Marymount.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
McKenna LeVan (Albright / Jr., GK / Pine Grove, Pa.) recorded two clean sheets in two games this past week for Albright. The Lions, as a team, went undefeated in the two games on the road this week tying Rutgers-Camden 0-0 and beating Neumann University 1-0 on Saturday. LeVan recorded 12 saves against Rutgers-Camden including multiple stops from point blank range. She recorded her second clean sheet of the week against Neumann making four saves in the 1-0 Victory. In the two games this week, LeVan combined for 16 saves and two clean sheets.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Savannah Rennix (Delaware Valley / Gr., F / Blue Bell, Pa.) netted five goals in two games this week. She scored two against Stevenson while notching four shots on goal, and the next night notched a hattrick against Cairn with five shots in a 6-1 Aggies victory. Rennix now leads her team in goals, points, shots, and shots on goal.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Viola Anderson (Delaware Valley / Jr., GK / Bakersfield, Calif.) helped the Aggies to a 1-1 week. In the 5-3 loss against Stevenson, Anderson made 15 saves on 20 shots on goal. Anderson helped the Aggies to a 6-1 victory over Cairn University.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (#MACvb)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Gianna Krinock (York / Gr., OH / York, Pa.) paced the Spartan offense in a 3-0 week for the Green and White. The graduate student led York with 49 kills and a 4.08 kills-per-set average while hitting a stellar .358 for the week on over 100 attempts. Krinock matched her season-high with 17 kills in the victory over Penn State Harrisburg.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Morgan Nolte (York / So., OH / Townsend, Del.) put together a strong defensive effort which helped lead the Spartans to a 3-0 week. The sophomore led the team with 13 total blocks on the week with a team-leading 1.08 block-per-set average. Her 13 blocks accounted for 52% of York’s team total for the week. She produced a season-high six in the victory over McDaniel last Wednesday.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Taylor McInerney (Lebanon Valley / Sr., OH / Annville, Pa.) had another big week with 78 kills in three matches for the Dutchmen. She also had four assists, three service aces, 16 digs, and four total blocks as the Dutchmen went 3-1 as a team including 2-1 at Muhlenberg's Buttermaker Tournament. The senior began the week by equaling the LVC program record with 35 kills in a 3-1 win over Dickinson in the home opener. McInerney hit an impressive .456 in the match and added one assist, two aces, and six digs. The senior had 26 kills, three assists, one ace, seven digs, and three blocks in a tough 3-2 loss at Muhlenberg before ending the week with 17 kills against Bard. The senior hit .652 in the 3-0 victory over the Raptors and added three digs and one block to her stat line.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Meg Dion (Stevens / Sr., MB / West Chester, Pa.) totaled 12 blocks across three games at the Gargoyle Classic, including six in the Ducks' four-set win over hosting UChicago. Dion also totaled 11 kills, two aces and nine digs across the three matches.