SUNYAC Athletes of the Week - November 24, 2025
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The SUNYAC releases its winter Athletes of the Week honoring 14 student-athletes from 10 different member institutions for their outstanding performances during the week of November 17-23.
Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week - Hali Shabazz, Buffalo State
Shabazz was a staple of the Buffalo State offense in a 2-0 week as they picked up a pair of wins over Alfred State and Houghton. In the win over the Pioneers, Shabazz scored 13 points with four rebounds and a steal. In Saturday's win over the Highlanders, Shabazz led all scorers with 27 points while adding four rebounds and three steals while shooting 10-15 (66.7%) from the field.
Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week - Carlie Young, Oneonta
Young recorded a career-high in points and finished the week averaging 22.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and a steal, while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor, 36.4 percent from three, and 87.5 percent from the line, as the team went 2-0 in the Oneonta & Hartwick Classic. She started off with a double-double and posted a career-high 31 points with 13 rebounds, two steals, and a block in a 74-69 overtime win against Eastern Connecticut State. Young then helped Oneonta defeat Hamilton by scoring nine points in a 19-6 fourth quarter run to finish with 11 points and seven boards in a 59-52 victory. Young's performance earned herself the Oneonta & Hartwick Classic's MVP and named to the All-Tournament Team.
Men's Ice Hockey Athlete of the Week - Vadim Kiriakov, Buffalo St.
Kiriakov led the Bengals to a 5-1 victory over Fredonia in a SUNYAC win on Friday night, Kiriakov netted his first career hat trick with two power play goals. On the year, Kiriakov has five points with four goals and an assist.
Men's Ice Hockey Goaltender of the Week - Damon Beaver, Hobart
Beaver started in goal on Saturday against Canton. He made 17 saves as he collected his second consecutive shutout. The Whitby, Ontario native has allowed just one goal in his last 180 minutes of work. Beaver is 5-0-0 with a 0.71 GAA and a .960 save percentage. Saturday's game was his 21st career shutout.
Men's Ice Hockey Rookie of the Week - Chad Lowe, Morrisville
Lowe repeats as the Rookie of the Week after he led Morrisville to a 1-1 week with his play in net, recording 103 total saves across two SUNYAC games. The freshman registered 47 saves and a .979 save effort in the 2-1 win over Plattsburgh Friday night, before collecting 56 stops in a 3-2 loss with a .949 save percentage against Skidmore Saturday. In all, Lowe posted a .963 save percentage on the weekend in 117 minutes played.
Women's Ice Hockey Athlete of the Week - Brooke Terry, Plattsburgh
Sophomore forward Terry played a pivotal role in keeping the Cardinals unbeaten in conference play as they completed another perfect weekend, advancing to 4–0 in league action. Terry opened the weekend with a standout performance in Plattsburgh's 5–0 win over Morrisville, recording a goal and an assist to help fuel the shutout victory. She followed it up with one of the game's most crucial moments against Cortland, scoring the game-tying goal as the Cardinals erased a 3–1 deficit. Her equalizer knotted the score at 3–3, setting the stage for Plattsburgh's eventual 4–3 comeback win.
Women's Ice Hockey Goaltender of the Week - Mia Iwicki, William Smith
Iwicki was 2-0-0 in goal this weekend for the Herons. She stopped 72 of the 74 shots she faced as she helped William Smith defeat No. 13 Oswego 2-1 and Canton, which was receiving votes in the USCHO.com poll, 2-1. On Friday against the Lakers, Iwicki made 43 saves, including 20 in the first period. It was the Herons first win against the Lakers since 2022. On Saturday against Canton, Iwicki made 29 saves , including stopping a penalty shot in the third period. Iwicki is 4-1-0 this season with a 1.38 GAA and a .962 save percentage.
Women's Ice Hockey Rookie of the Week - Alexa Todd, Buffalo St.
Todd had a strong weekend in goal for the Bengals going 1-1 as Buffalo State defeated Canton before falling to #13 Oswego. Todd got the start in both games and posted a .927 save percentage with 51 saves including 29 against the Lakers. Todd was stellar with 22 saves in the Bengals win over Canton.
Men's Swimmer of the Week - Isaac Stoeckle, Penn State Behrend
Stoeckle tied for second place with a personal best in the 50 free with teammate Anthony Tumino (21.03). He was second in the 100 back swimming a 50.71 and won the 200 back with a PR of 1:54.32. Stoeckle was also part of the four-winning relays 400 Free (3:08.07) and 400 medley relays (3:27.40) as well as the pool record setting 200 Free (1:24.27) and 200 medley relays (1:32.37).
Men's Diver of the Week - Conor Compton, Alfred State
Compton came out swinging Saturday for the Pioneers with a record-breaking performance. In the 3-meter competition, Compton dove 601.30 with 11 dives in the prelims. That was a personal record, a rebroken Fredonia record, and a conference record. Compton's first 6 dives broke the 9-year-old Fredonia pool record with a 377.6. On Sunday, Compton rebroke his record with the 1 meter, 11 dives with 579.60, and broke it again at finals with a 584.80. That score breaks his personal record, pool record, and conference record. For 6 dives, Compton broke his personal, pool, and conference records in the 1-meter dive. Compton now holds all the pool records at Fredonia. Compton won both the 1-meter and 3-meter (574.95). Compton also received his first 10 in a college competition.
Women's Swimmer of the Week - Kallie Smith, Penn State Behrend
Smith won the 200 IM with a personal best time of 2:10.91 and the 400 IM with a PR of 4:40.44, breaking the team record from 2018. She was also second in the 200 breaststroke with another PR of 2:29.68 the third fasted time in school history. Smith was also part of the school record setting 800 Free Relay and first place 400 Medley relay that broke the Fredonia State Steele Hall Natatorium pool record (7:59.05). She was also a member of the first place 400 free relay (3:37.99) and second place 200 free relay (1:39.54).
Women's Diver of the Week - Auttumn Ayakawa, Cortland
Ayakawa finished second in 3-meter diving with an 11-dive score of 388.35 points and third in 1-meter diving at 388.85 points at the four-team TCNJ Invitational over the weekend. She was Cortland's top finisher in both events and helped Cortland place third in the final team standings.
Men's Wrestler of the Week - Josh Harkless, RIT
Harkless won the 285 lb. open division to lead the Tigers to an eighth-place finish at the New York State Intercollegiate Championships, Saturday. Harkless, ranked third in Div. III, pinned Yaman Shehadeh (NYU) 1:32 into his opening match. He pinned Muaweyah El-Hindi (UNA) 48 seconds into his quarterfinal match and beat Kamdyn Dorchester (Ithaca) with a 15-0 technical fall in the semifinals. Harkless beat No. 2 seed Charles Weldman (USMA) 4-0 in the championship bout.
Men's Wrestling Rookie of the Week - Nicholas Rose, Cortland
Rose posted a 4-0 record with four pins to claim the 197-pound title in the freshman/sophomore division at the New York State Collegiate Championships on Saturday at Onondaga Community College. The freshman needed just 45 seconds to record a pin of Albany's Henry Meisner in his opening match, and then followed it up with a pin of Alfred's Pierce Tran in the first period of the quarterfinals. After recording a victory over a teammate in the semifinals, Rose pinned Alimkhan Guseinov of Hunter in the finals in 1:13 to win his weight class.
