2018 'Cuse Award Nominees
FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
FEMALE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
MALE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
PLAY OF THE YEAR
SOLADAY AWARD NOMINEES
GAME OF THE YEAR
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
| Ella Saada | Volleyball | All-ACC Freshman Team selection. One of three members on the team to play in all 36 matches and appeared in 126 sets. |
| Gabby Teran | Softball | Has started every game at second base for the Orange. Leads the team with three home runs, is second in RBI, second in stolen bases, tied for second in triples, and fifth in batting average. |
| Jessica Digirolamo | Ice Hockey | Scored 2 goals and assisted on 13 goals. Led all Syracuse freshman in points and tied for third on entire team for assists. Named CHA Freshman of the Week. |
| Kate Donovan | Soccer | Second on team and first of freshman in goals (3) and points (6). Recorded her first two-goal game against Cornell. |
| Sofya Golubovskaya | Tennis | One of three Orange to record double-digit singles and doubles victories this season. Alternates between second and third singles as a freshman. |
| Imani Clark | Track and Field | Second fastest 100-meter dash time at Syracuse. Leads the team in the 100 and 200-meter dash. Was just 0.08 seconds off the Orange’s school record as a true freshman on the 100-meter dash at Miami. |
| Sam Swart | Lacrosse | Ranks third on team in goals and fourth in points. Has scored three or more goals in a game five times and Earned Inside Lacrosse National Rookie of the Week honors. |
| Digna Strautmane | Basketball | Averages 10.1 points per game and 6.1 rebounds while leading the team in blocks with 58. She is also third in the ACC in blocks per game with 1.9. Earned three-time Rookie of the Week and Blue Ribbon Panel ACC All-Freshman Team. |
MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
| Oshae Brissett | Basketball | Ranked fifth among Division 1 players in minutes-played average and started all 37 games. Named to ACC All-Freshman Team and ranked second in scoring and first in rebounding averages at Syracuse. |
| Tajon Buchanan | Soccer | Named to All-ACC Third Team and ACC All-Freshman Team. Started all 18 matches and tied on the team in points. |
| Tucker Dordevic | Lacrosse | Started every game and is the first true freshman since 2005 to record a four-point game. Ranks fifth on the team with 15 points and nine goals. Will become the second true freshman in over a decade to start 10-or-more games as an offensive player for the program. |
| Jamil Adams | Track and Field | Finished 17th at the ACC Championships in the 60-meter hurdles, to be part of a group that qualified eight runners in the event. |
| Airon Servais | Football | Started all 12 games and led the Orange with 1,036 snaps played. Third on the team with 36 knockdown blocks and contributed to a Syracuse offense that ranked third in the ACC. |
FEMALE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
| Paige Stoner | Cross Country | Became the first Dyracuse woman to finish in the top-20 at the NCAA Championship, earning USTFCCCA All-America honors. |
| Alexa Romero | Softball | Threw a perfect game in an 8-0 win over Sacramento St. It is the second perfect game in program history. Romero struck out nine of the 15 batters she faced. |
| Santita Ebangwese | Volleyball | In a win at Dartmouth, Ebangwese produced a program-best 0.783 hitting percentage. She totaled 18 kills on 23 attempts with one error. |
| Brooke Avery | Ice Hockey | Tallied her first career hat trick (including a short-handed goal and the game winner) against RIT in the CHA Quarterfinals to advance Syracuse to the Semifinals. |
| Tiana Mangakahia | Basketball | 44-point performance to lift Syracuse over Georgia Tech. It was the second-most points scored in Carrier Dome history by any ‘Cuse student-athlete male or female and set a program record for free throws made going 20-for-21 form the line. |
| Miranda Drummond | Basketball | Scored 38 points in an upset victory at home over No. 11/12 Florida State improving the Orange to 9-0 at home. |
| Asa Goldstock | Lacrosse | Recorded 14 saves in a 17-15 victory against No. 3 Florida. Five of her second-half saves came on Gators’ free-position attempts, including one with two seconds remaining. |
| Gabriela Knutson | Tennis | Knocked off the No. 1 doubles pair in the nation at first doubles with a 6-2 victory. Defeated No. 22 at first signles, dropping set one 2-6 before rallying in set two to take the 6-2 win and using her momentum to win the game in the third set. |
MALE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
| Justyn Knight | Cross Country | Claimed Syracuse’s first NCAA Individual Championship in Cross Country. |
| Ervin Philips | Football | Set an ACC record with 17 catches for a career-high 188 yards against NC State. |
| Tyus Battle | Basketball | Scored a career-high 37 points while playing all 50 minutes. He connected on five 3-point baskets and was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line against No. 23 Florida State. |
| Hendrik Hilpert | Soccer | Made a career-high nine saves and shutout No. 1 Wake Forest, which ranked second in the nation in scoring. He earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. |
| Dom Madonna | Lacrosse | Made 13 saves, allowing just six goals in a win over No. 6 Notre Dame. |
| Justyn Knight | Track and Field | Won the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship in the 5k, becoming the second Individual NCAA Championship in indoor track. |
PLAY OF THE YEAR
| Football | Dontae Strickland | Caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Eric Dungey on the first series in Syracuse’s upset win against the Tigers. |
| Softball | Alicia Hansen | Makes a catch in center field while crashing into the wall and still manages to throw the Florida State runner out a first to complete the double play. |
| Men’s Basketball | Tyus Battle | With 47 seconds left in regulation, battle hit a fad-away 18 footer to give the Orange a 52-49 advantage. |
| Women’s Lacrosse | Nicole Levy | Behind-the-back goal in the season opener against Connecticut. The play was included on NCAA Top Plays of the Week. |
| Women’s Basketball | Tiana Mangakahia | Scores a game-winning three-pointer that sealed the home win over No. 17/16 Duke with under 30 seconds left to play. |
| Men’s Soccer | Hugo Delhommelle | Finds the net on free kink into the top corner of the goal from 20 yards out at Colgate. |
| Ice Hockey | Savannah Rennie | Scores on breakaway backhander in overtime for the gamewinner at Penne State. |
| Field Hockey | Lies Lagerweij | Lagerweij’s blast that made Sportcenter’s top-10 vs. Drexel at No. 7. |
SOLADAY AWARD NOMINEES
| Tennis | Nicole Mitchell |
| Field Hockey | Laura Hurff |
| Cheer | Dana Lussier |
| Ice Hockey | Stephanie Grossi |
| Women's Lacrosse | Taylor Gait |
| Women's Rowing | Rachel Caldwell |
| Women’s Soccer | Courtney Brosnan |
| Softball | Sammy Fernandez |
| Track and Field/XC | Danielle Delgado |
| Volleyball | Belle Sand |
| Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field | Colin Bennie |
| Football | Zaire Franklin |
| Men’s Lacrosse | Matthew Lane |
| Men’s Rowing | Dominic Santora |
| Men’s Soccer | Patrick Castle |
| Mascot | Michael Lehr |
GAME OF THE YEAR
| Men’s Lacrosse | Syracuse vs. Duke | Syracuse came back from down two goals in the fourth quarted to defeat No. 3 Duke at Koskinen Stadium. The win was Syracuse’s first win at Duke since 1938. |
| Football | Syracuse 27 vs. Clemson 24 | The Orange defeated second-ranked Tigers 27-24 at the Carrier Dome. Highest-ranked opponent the Orange beat since upsetting No. 1 Nebraska in 1984. Eric Dungey threw 3 touchdowns while the defese held Clemson to 113 yards rushing, more than 120 yards below their average entering the game. Syracuse is the only team to beat Clemson during the regular season. |
| Men’s Basketball | Syracuse 55 vs. Michigan State 53 | Syracuse upsets fifth-ranked Michigan State in Detroit, 55-53, to advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. |
| Women’s Rowing | ACC Tournament | Second Varsity 8 wins the ACC Championship and Crew of the Year. |
| Field Hockey | Syracuse 2 vs. Duke 1 | The Orange surge past No. 2 Duke in a pivotal ACC road win. Jennifer Bleakney redirected Lies Lagerweij’s shot to take the lead. Laura Hurff’s goal in the final 10 minutes broke the 1-1 tie and Borg van der Velde’s penalty stroke win in the last minute delivered Syracuse the huge win. |
| Men’s Cross Country | ACC Tournament | While claiming a sixth-straight ACC title, the men’s cross country team did so in its most dominant fashion ever collecting 27 points and putting all-five scorers in the top nine overall. The performance was so dominant that if you combined the other 14 schools (199) runners and raced them against the Orange, Syracuse still would have won the conference title by a point. |
| Tennis | Syracuse 4, Georgia Tech 3 | The Orange recorded their biggest in in the Syracuse program history when they defeated No. 3 Georgia Tech, 4-3. Before this, the top win over a ranked opponent was a victory over No. 19 Wake Forest in 2016. |
| Women’s Lacrosse | Syracuse 12, Loyola 11 | Syracuse defeated No. 9 Loyola, 12-11 in overtime. The Orange let 5-1 at halftime, but with 6:31 remaining the score was tied at 9-9. Syracuse won the opening draw of overtime and Emily Hawryschuk scored the game-winner, her sixth goal of the day, to give the Orange their second win against a top-10 opponent this season. |
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
| Paige Stoner | Cross Country | First ACC Individual Champion in program history and ACC Performer of the Year. Came in 17th at NCAA Championships which marks the first top-30 performance by a Syracuse woman. |
| Stephanie Grossi | Ice Hockey | Earned All-CHA Second Team, CHA Best Defensive Forward, and CHA Individual Sportsmanship Award. Became Syracuse’s all-time leading points scorer, finishing her career with 117 points as well as program leader in career assists with 72. |
| Lies Lagerweij | Field Hockey | Named NFHCA All-American, All-ACC first team selection, and NFHCA All-Mideast Region. Led the Orange’s defense which is ranked 2nd nationally in shutouts and 3rd overall in goals against average as center back. |
| Tiana Mangakahia | Basketball | Named All-ACC First Team while setting the program and ACC record for single season assists. She also led the nation in assists and assists per game and becoming the first Syracuse female (and second overall) to amass 300 assists in a season. |
| Gabriela Knutson | Tennis | Paces the Orange with a 14-1 record and a perfect 9-0 record in ACC play. She ranks 17th in program history for career wins with 126, eight more wins will put her in the top 10. Defeated four top-50 opponents this season and won the ITA Northeast Regionals. |
| Alexa Romero | Softball | Three no-hitters, including a perfect game in 2018. Ranks sixth nationally in strikeouts per seven innings with 10.6 and ninth in strikeouts with 191. Two time ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week. |
| Tia Thevenin | Track and Field | Wualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 100-meter hurdles, after last year’s ‘Cuse Awards, earning USTFCCCA All-America honors in the process. |
| Riley Donahue | Lacrosse | Named to Tewaaraton Award Watch List and ranks third on the team in points while ranked first in assists.Became the ninth player in school history to record 200 points in her career. She also ranks ninth on the SU all-time scoring list. |
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
| Justyn Knight | Cross Country/Track and Field | First NCAA Cross Country Champion in program history. He is also NCAA Northeast Region Champion, ACC Champion, USTFCCCA National Performer of the Year, ACC Performer of the Year, USTFCCCA Northeast Region Performer of the Year, USTFCCCA All-American, USTFCCCA All-Northeast Region, All-ACC, and Bowerman Award (Heisman of track) 10-man watchlist member. |
| Steve Ishmael | Football | Named to nine All-America teams while setting the SU season record with 105 catches for 1,347 yards and seven touchdowns. He also tied for national lead in receptions per game with 8.8 and ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA in three other receiving categories. Also names to All-ACC First Team and All-ECAC First Team. |
| Hendrik Hilpert | Soccer | Started 17 of 18 games this season. Recorded a career-high 60 saves. He ranks founrth on the school’s career wins list with 28. Academicially successful with selection to CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team. |
| Matt Moore | Track and Field | USTFCCAÂ Second Team All-American in the 60-meter hurdles. He finished 10th at the NCAA Championship in the 60-meter hurdles. He also took silver at the ACC Championships. |
| Nick Mellen | Lacrosse | Named Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American. He has held every one of his matchups below their season average. |
