CNY COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: Drew Kopek named women's hockey Player of the Week

The nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland women’s ice hockey team is on a roll, and the play of sophomore forward Drew Kopek (Rome/Rome Free Academy) has had a lot to do with it. The contributions she has made during Cortland’s current 10-game unbeaten streak have not gone unnoticed. On Monday, Kopek was named the State University of New York Athletic Conference’s (SUNYAC) Player of the Week after scoring four times in three Red Dragon victories last week.

And Tuesday night, she assisted on the tying goal in the third period as No. 9 Cortland played No. 16 Nazareth University to a 1-1 overtime tie.



Her Red Dragons are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games and 12-2-2 overall, and Kopek is among the SUNYAC’s top scorers with 14 points, including a league-leading eight goals and six assists. Kopek’s award-winning week started with the first two-game game of her career in Cortland’s 8-0 win over Chatham University, and it continued over the weekend when the Red Dragons swept SUNY Canton 2-1 and 5-1. In Friday night’s opener, Kopek stole the puck and scored the game-winner on a wrist shot just 1:44 into overtime.

The next day, she scored for the fourth time in three games as the Red Dragons extended their winning streak to six games. Cortland has another weekend doubleheader this week. Kopek and the Red Dragons host SUNY Morrisville on Friday and play at Morrisville at 3 p.

m. on Saturday. In other NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey news, Arcadia University senior Ariel Williamson (Rome/Rome Free Academy) helped the Knights beat Alvernia University 4-1 and 3-0.

Williamson had an assist in each game. Williamson has one goal and nine assists and Arcadia is 12-2-1 overall. SUNY Poly’s Merchant shares weekly hoop honor Senior guard LaMarqus Merchant Jr.

(Utica/Utica Academy of Science) was named the Empire 8 Conference’s co-Player of the Week after leading the SUNY Poly men’s basketball team to a pair of E8 wins over the weekend. Merchant had game highs of 21 points and nine rebounds in a 67-63 overtime victory over Alfred University. His basket with 12 seconds left in regulation forced the extra period and he scored six more points in OT.

The next day, Merchant made 11-of-12 free throw attempts and finished with a team-high 21 points in a 90-74 romp over Houghton University. It is the second weekly E8 honor for Merchant, who averaged 21.7 points, 6.

7 rebounds and 4.7 assists during SUNY Poly’s 2-1 week. He entered this week seventh in Empire 8 scoring at 15.

7 points per game, and he ranked in the top 20 nationally with 5.6 assists per game. Utica University’s Pioneers also won twice this past weekend, thanks in part to graduate student Damien Call (Rome/Rome Free Academy) , who scored a season-high 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting in an 80-56 win over Houghton University.

A day later, Call scored 10 points and added a game-high nine rebounds in a 68-56 win over Alfred University. SUNY Oswego freshman Deacon Judd (Mohawk/Central Valley Academy) scored 15 of his career-high 27 points in the second half and had a team-high nine rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 67-59 win over SUNY Oneonta on Tuesday night. Judd’s basket gave Oswego the lead for good at 54-53, and then drained a three-pointer with 3:03 left.

In Vermont, Lyndon State’s Gregory Gonyea Jr. (Dolgeville) scored 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting in an 89-80 loss to the University of Maine-Presque Isle. Daemen University’s Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford) played only 23 minutes, but he scored a season-high 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in the NCAA Division II Wildcats’ 88-56 win over D’Youville University.

He then helped nationally-ranked No. 2/4 Daemen improve to 16-0 with an 82-70 win over Gannon University. St.

Lawrence University’s Colton Suriano (New Hartford) scored seven points in a 64-46 loss to Ithaca College. Le Moyne’s Roberts shines in back-to-back wins A Le Moyne College women’s basketball team that had lost its first 16 games of the season ended that drought on Saturday when graduate student Haedyn Roberts (Holland Patent) recorded her second double-double and helped the NCAA Division I Dolphins rally for a 77-71 overtime victory over Chicago State University. Roberts shot 5-of-6 from three-point range and finished with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 10 rebounds.

She made two free throws and hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to help Le Moyne erase an 11-point deficit. Roberts then had 13 points and seven rebounds on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Dolphins made it two straight victories with a 69-67 win over Stonehill College.

Monmouth University graduate student Belle Kranbuhl (Boonville/Adirondack) scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter — including two free throws with 26 seconds left — and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Division I Hawks edged the College of Charleston 59-55. On Sunday, Kranbuhl had 15 points and eight rebounds in an 80-77 overtime loss to UNC-Wilmington. Daemen University’s Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro) had six points and a team-high eight rebounds while helping the Division II Wildcats rally for a 63-59 win over D’Youville University.

SUNY Geneseo’s Kiley Snow (Whitesboro) scored seven points during an early 11-0 run and finished with 11 points in an 83-40 Division III win over Keuka College. Snow then scored 12 points and the Knights extended their winning streak to seven games with a 64-57 win over Elmira College. Alfred University’s Natalee Collins (Waterville) played a “homecoming” game at Utica University on Saturday and the sophomore’s 12 points and game-high 13 rebounds helped her Saxons hold on for a 62-59 win.

Her basket with 36 seconds left gave Alfred a 58-54 lead. Herkimer College freshman Kavashia Archie (Utica/T.R.

Proctor) scored a career-high 28 points on 13-of-16 shooting and teammate Kerisa Van Olst (Salisbury Center/Dolgeville) added 12 points in a 68-47 win over Genesee Community College. Archie then had 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals in a 72-51 win over Corning Community College. Le Moyne’s Gibson, Utica relay set records Le Moyne College distance runner Jack Gibson (Ilion/Central Valley Academy) set a facility record when he won the men’s 5,000-meter run during the Utica Winter Open indoor track and field meet at Utica University’s Hutton Sports & Recreation Center.

Gibson’s winning 5K time of 15:01.91 was also a personal record for the senior, who Monday was named Le Moyne’s Athlete of the Week. Utica’s 4x200 relay team of Ethan Kain (New Hartford) , Andy Hadasz (Whitesboro) , Tanner Warren (Mohawk/Central Valley Academy) and Ellis Urgent set a school record with a second-place finish in 1:30.

21, and Warren was runner-up in the 400-meter run (50.16). The host Pioneers also got a first-place finish from high jumper Kaiden McCaskil (Rome/Rome Free Academy) , who cleared 6 feet, 3 1/2 inches.

The Utica women’s team had two event winners — Nyasia Marsh (Westmoreland) won the long jump at 17 feet, 6 inches, and high jumper Hannah Allison (Herkimer) tied her personal best when she cleared 5 feet, 2 1/4 inches. Local swimmers on winning relay teams The Rochester Institute of Technology men’s swimming and diving team improved to 7-0 with a 216-81 win over the University of Rochester, and Eric Noga (Oriskany) was on the Tigers’ 200-yard freestyle relay team that won with a time of 1:25.89.

Hartwick College’s Hassan Abdelwahed (New Hartford) , meanwhile, anchored a 200-yard freestyle relay team that won with a time of 1:28, but Alfred University beat the Hawks 175.5-120.5.

Le Moyne College’s Patrick Scott (Utica/New Hartford) won the one-meter diving with a score of 263.85 in the Dolphins’ 263-85 loss to Long Island University. For the Le Moyne women’s team, Abigail Jaros (New Hartford) was second in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:48.

44. Long Island University outscored the Dolphins 176-118..