General 10/16/2023 2:30:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - October 16, 2023 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for October 16, 2023. This includes Athletes of the Week for both the Skye and Volt Divisions in Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, and Women’s Volleyball. This week’s selections included contests from Monday, October 9 through Sunday, October 15. A total of 12 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Jesse Brittain / Jr / Cairn University / Chester, Pa. / The Christian Academy Brittain tallied four goals on the week, including his second career hat trick in conference play against Clarks Summit on Wednesday, scoring all 3 goals consecutively in less than 10 minutes of play. On Saturday against Notre Dame (MD), Brittain scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute. Brittain was the 2021 CSAC Rookie of the Year as well as a First Team honoree in 2021 and 2022. Brittain is currently in the Top 10 in the United East for Shots (9th; 25), Shots on Goal (9th; 17) and Goals (9th; 6). This is the third Player of the Week honor for Brittain who previously won for the weeks of September 7, 2021 and September 27, 2021. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Sean Rodriguez / Jr / Rosemont College / Fairfield, Ct. / Rodriguez led the Ravens backline at center back to two Skye Division wins over the week; 2-1 vs. Wilson and 7-1 vs. Bryn Athyn. The Ravens currently lead the United East with a 1.00 Goals Against Average which is tied for 84th in all of NCAA Division III. Rodriguez is the 2022 CSAC Defensive Player of the Year as well as a First Team All Conference honoree. This is the first player of the week award for Rodriguez. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Arsene Bado / Jr / Penn State Abington / Ouaga, Burkina Faso / Abington HS Bado finished the week with five goals as Abington went 2-1, including 2-0 versus Volt Division opponents. Bado scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute at Penn College and then followed that up with a four-goal performance against Gallaudet where the Nittany Lions scored a school record 14 goals. Bado is currently Top 5 in major offensive categories for the United East including Goals (5th: 7), Assists (4th: 5), and Points (4th; 19). This is the first Player of the Week honor for Bado who was a 2022 All-United East First Team performer. Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Zack Reed / FY / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / Leonardtown, Md. / Leonardtown HS Reed started in goal for the team's first league win of the season; a 3-1 victory over Penn College. The First-Year needed just one save in improving to 3-0 on the season. Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Teresa Lee / Sr / Cairn University / Jackson, N.J. / Calvary Academy Lee scored the would-be game winning goal against Notre Dame (MD) on Tuesday in Baltimore and assisted on both of the Highlander's other 2 goals to collect a goal & 2 assists (4 points) in the match. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Lee who previously won the award on September 19, 2022. Lee was a First Team performer in 2022 in addition to the Honorable Mention nod in 2021. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Bella Bozen / So / Cedar Crest College / Lockport, Il. / Lockport Township HS Bozen recorded a clean sheet in a scoreless tie while making six against Bryn Athyn, giving the Lions their first tie of the season. Bozen also made seven saves in a 1-1 draw with Rosemont. The sophomore GK is currently 2nd in the United East with a .887 Save Percentage as well tied for 2nd with 5 shutouts. This is the second Player of the Week honor in Women’s Soccer for Bozen who previously won for the week of September 4, 2023. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Kyla Brossoit / Sr / Penn State Harrisburg / Hanover, Pa. / South Western HS Penn State Harrisburg went 2-0 last week and Kyla Brossoit netted the game-winning goal in each of those victories for the regionally-ranked Lions. The senior buried the lone score in the 59th minute of a 1-0 shutout of Arcadia on Tuesday night and followed it up by converting the first marker in the 23rd minute of a convincing 4-0 win over Muhlenberg on a rainy Saturday afternoon. The goals increased her total of game-winning markers to four this fall - good enough to earn her a share of second place among United East players this season. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Brossoit who previously won for the Week of October 17, 2022. Brossoit was a 2022 All-United East Second Team honoree. Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Sophia Gonzalez / So / Penn State Berks / Ephrata, Pa. / Ephrata HS Gonzalez turned in a pair of strong performances to help the Nittany Lions go 2-0 this past week. The sophomore goalkeeper recorded eight saves, while earning two shutout wins. She had one stop in a 1-0 win over Albright College on Wednesday. Gonzalez followed that up with seven saves in a 3-0 victory over Lancaster Bible College on Saturday. Gonzalez was a 2022 United East Second Team member as well as Defensive Player of the Week for the weeks of September 4, 2023, October 2, 2022, and September 12, 2022. Women’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Natalie Newton / Sr / Notre Dame of Maryland University / Harpers Ferry, W.V. / Washington HS Newton led NDMU's offense in to a 3-0 week, recording 74 total assists, averaging 24.3 per match. The senior recorded a career-high 36 assists in NDMU's five set victory over Mary Baldwin University. In addition, Newton racked up 11 service aces in the three outings, including 5 in the win over the Fighting Squirrels. This is the second Athlete of the Week award for Newton who previously won the award for the week of September 26, 2022. Newton was an Honorable Mention honoree in 2022 as well as a Second Team member in 2021. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Ava Railton / FY / Saint Elizabeth University / Santa Rosa Beach, Fl. / South Walton HS First Year Libero Ava Railton totaled 41 digs across the two matches this week keeping her comfortably leading the Eagles squad. She also added an assist and two service aces making her second and fourth respectively on the leaderboard for those areas on the team. Railton currently ranks 8th in the United East with 222 total Digs and 9th with 3.76 Digs per Set. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Ella Gamble / Jr / Gallaudet University / Cullowhee, N.C. / Smoky Mountain Gamble was a force on both offense and defense for the Bison as GU went 3-0 on the week. The junior setter passed out 102 assists to go with five aces and three kills on offense. While on defense she made 27 digs and four blocks for the Bison. She had assist totals of 33, 35, 34 and had seven or more digs in every match with a week high of 13 against Saint Joseph's. Gamble currently leads the United East in Assists (832) and Assists per Set (9.79); good for 20th in all of NCAA Division III. This is the third Athlete of the Week award for Gamble who previously won for the weeks of October 9, 2023 and September 18, 2023. Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Julia Bobrowski / So / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / California, Md. / Leonardtown HS Julia Bobrowski had a well-balanced week for the Seahawks, notching 29 digs, 18 kills, eight service aces, and three total blocks (2 solo, 1 assist). Bobrowski nabbed a week-high 12 digs in the sweep of Hollins plus three aces in back-to-back wins. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Instagram - gounitedeast | Twitter - @GoUnitedEast * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The United East boasts 17 NCAA Division III full member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cairn University, Cedar Crest College, Clarks Summit University, Gallaudet University, Keystone College, Lancaster Bible College, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Penn College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg, Rosemont College, Saint Elizabeth University, St. Mary's College of Maryland, University of Valley Forge, and Wilson College. 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