Berke, Werber and Paone Take Home SUNYAC Men's Ice Hockey Weekly Honors
CORTLAND, N.Y. - Cortland's Nate Berke is this week's SUNYAC Men's Ice Hockey Athlete of the Week, while Potsdam's John Werber takes home Goaltender of the Week and Oswego's Nico Paone claims Rookie of the Week.
Berke played a huge role in a 2-0 weekend for the nationally 15th-ranked Red Dragons, contributing on five of the team's six goals with five points on two goals and three assists. The graduate student had a hand in all three goals for Cortland in a 3-0 win at Buffalo State on Friday evening, scoring a goal and adding two assists. He became the 12th player in program history to reach 100 career points with an assist in the first period, and also snapped a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net later in the period. Berke also provided the primary assist on the final goal of the game for the Red Dragons. He followed his Friday performance up with a goal and an assist on Saturday in a 3-2 win at Fredonia. Berke scored to tie the game in the second period, and then provided the primary assist on the game-winning goal midway through the third period.
Werber guided the Bears to a 1-0-1 SUNYAC weekend with a 0.92 goals-against-average and a .981 save percentage. He stopped a career-high 53 shots in a 1-1 draw with Oswego on Friday. On Saturday, Werber made 37 stops in a 2-1 win over Canton.
The Lakers were on the road up north this week and in the first game against Potsdam, Paone scored the lone goal in a 1-1 tie with the Bears. In the big rivalry game at Plattsburgh, Paone assisted on a goal that sparked some energy for the Lakers after being down 2-0. As a first year defender, Paone has collected 17 points on 5 goals and 12 assists.
