Four KSC athletes were named to the Little East Conference (LEC) player of the week list on Monday, April 14. The players received their awards for their performances throughout the week of April 7-April 14. Each of these athletes in their sports were among the top performers in the conference in certain categories.
The first LEC player of the week is sophomore defender Ty Cougler from the KSC Men’s Lacrosse team. According to previous reporting from The Equinox, this is Cougler’s second time being recognized for “Defensive Player of the Week.” In the team’s game against Salem State University, Cougler caused seven turnovers and snatched up nine ground balls in the Owls’ victory. In their loss against Clark University, the sophomore had a turnover and five ground balls.
Cougler is on track to break the school record for caused turnovers by the end of his collegiate career and is currently second on the team in ground balls. The sophomore said that the mindset he has applied to games has helped the defense improve as a whole and remain focused throughout.
“When it comes to game time, from a defensive aspect we can’t worry about what our offense does. You can’t control what the offense does, but you can control how you play on defense and the goals you give up. That’s been an impact on the last couple weeks just because we’ll give up a goal, come together and talk as a unit and go get the next one,” Cougler said.
Moving on from men’s lacrosse, the women’s lacrosse team also had a player who was recognized as “Rookie of the Week.” First-year midfielder Lola Varricchione had a goal and two assists in the team’s win over Eastern Connecticut State University. Varricchione also had three turnovers and three ground balls, along with a few wins at the faceoff dot. The first-year is currently fourth on the team in goals and second on the team in assists.
The team is on track to make the playoffs and the effort from the rookie has played a role in that success. Head Coach Travis Wyant said he believes the first-year’s confidence in herself has carried the success throughout the season, and in order to continue performing Varricchione must continue having the edge.
“She’s got massive amounts of confidence. She has a little bit of a swagger to her, like she wants to be better than everybody else on the field. But she has to continue showing that every single game. Then, as we get into these playoff matchups, it’s important for her to come in with that confidence still,” Wyant said.
The final sport to receive recognition from the conference was the baseball team which had two athletes awarded. The first athlete was junior pitcher Jake Jachym who received the “Pitcher of the Week” award. In the two games played during the week, Jachym saw two mound appearances and left the opponent scoreless in both. The junior has a 4.81 ERA this season and has a winning record of 2-1. Jachym is the only pitcher in KSC Baseball to throw a shutout this season. The team is currently on a seven-game win streak and looking to sneak into the LEC playoffs and Jachym’s appearances seem to be pushing them in the right direction.
Baseball’s second athlete to receive a weekly award was junior outfielder Tommy Ahlers who was awarded “Player of the Week.” This recognition is different from the others as Ahlers was the conference’s best player in baseball that week. In the three games played in the week, Ahlers batted .636 while hitting three doubles and five RBIs. The junior also accounted for five of the Owls’ runs and improved his hitting streak to 20 straight games. Ahlers leads the team with a .474 batting average as well as leading in hits and triples. Against conference teams this season, Ahlers has maintained a .595 batting average, which leads the team against LEC opponents. An impressive season by Ahlers has helped the team hop on the winning streak, and Ahlers credited his success to the help he received in the offseason.
“One of my local gyms is owned by a buddy of mine and he hooked me up with a trainer who I’ve gotten pretty close with. He’s been sending me programs that I have been following throughout the season and preseason. He’s been helping me out and getting me ready for the season,” Ahlers said.
All four of these athletes have performed well enough to receive recognition and have to continue their play down the stretch. Each week KSC athletes receive recognition from the LEC, which can be found on the conference website.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
