GENESEO, N.Y. - The UCHC announced the major awards for men's ice hockey on Tuesday, March 3 and Alex Dameski was named the Player of the Year for the conference. The Empire 8 then announced their All-Conference awards on Thursday, March 5, and the Knights added three more major honors. Dameski completed the Player of the Year sweep between the two conferences, while Jacob Torgner was named the Goaltender of the Year, and the coaching staff, led by Chris Schultz, was named the Coaching Staff of the Year.

Additionally, the Knights landed five student-athletes on the UCHC and Empire 8 All-Conference lists. Dameski was joined by Sean Melso and Jacob Torgner on First-Team, Filip Wiberg earned Second-Team honors, and Dakota Zarudny rounded out the awards on Third-Team for UCHC and Second-Team for Empire 8.

A native of Oakville, Ontario, Dameski is enjoying a tremendous season, with 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points with a plus-24 rating in 26 games played. Dameski is tied for third nationally with five game-winning goals, while his 21 goals are tied for fourth in Division III. Dameski excelled in league play, scoring 25 points on 14 goals and 11 assists to go along with a plus-17 rating and four game-winning tallies in 16 contests. He tied for the league lead in goals and points in UCHC play this season and has 14 multiple-point efforts overall in 2025-26.

Torgner, who hails from Mjolby, Sweden, has excelled between the pipes for SUNY Geneseo this season on his way to being named the E8 Goaltender of the Year. He has appeared in 21 games, recording a 14-5-1 record, 2.32 goals against average and a .925 save percentage on the season. Torgner has made at least 30 saves on the season eight times and was a five-time Empire 8 Goaltender of the Week this season.

Geneseo head coach Chris Schultz and assistants Kris Heeres, Mitch Stephens and Dan Bosio were named the 2025-26 E8 Coaching of the Year. Schultz has led the Knights to an 18-7-1 record this season, No. 10 ranking in the USCHO.com Division III Men's Hockey poll and a berth in the 2026 United Collegiate Hockey Conference Championship game. He has previously led Geneseo to eight NCAA Tournament berths, including a NCAA National Runner-up honor in 2022. He is 341-147-32 all-time in 19 seasons at Geneseo.

Joining Dameski and Torgner as a First-Team honoree in both the UCHC and Empire 8, was junior defensemen Sean Melso. Melso has been a key player for the Knights both offensively and defensively, with 8 goals and 19 assists, leading the UCHC with 15 assists in conference games. 

Filip Wiberg and Dakota Zarudny also picked up All-Conference honors for the 2025-26 season. Wiberg totaled 7 goals and 11 assists against conference competitors and leading the UCHC with 371 face off wins for a .617 win %. Zarudny added another 5 goals and 14 assists for the Knights this season while also being a crucial player for Geneseo's defense, playing in all 26 games this season.

Full press release from the UCHC. | Full press release from the Empire 8