Varsity Athletics | 9/15/2026 12:07:00 PM

York University Lions field hockey player Kathryn Carlow and men's soccer player Matthew Fischer have been named the York athletes of the week for the period ending Sept. 13.

Carlow, a fourth-year midfielder and the reigning York women's athlete of the year, picked up right where she left off after leading the OUA in goals with nine in 2025, as the Lions opened their conference and national title defences this past weekend. The pride of the small township of Douro-Dummer – located about 20 minutes East of Peterborough and boasting a population of 8,546 – netted a hat trick in the Lions convincing 6-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons. On a day where the Lions celebrated their OUA and U SPORTS championship team from a season ago, it was their best player who was their best player as the squad bounced back from a season opening loss to the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Carlow and the Lions will remain on their home pitch on Saturday as they mingle with the McMaster Marauders, before travelling to Waterloo – the site of this year's Field Hockey Canada U SPORTS Invitational Championships – to battle the Waterloo Warriors.

Fischer, a fourth-year midfielder and Toronto native who attended nearby Earl Haig S.S., before spending his first year of collegiate eligibility at Canisius University in Buffalo, N.Y., scored two goals for the Lions in their convincing 5-1 victory over Windsor on Friday to sweep the season series against the Lancers and helping to keep the Lions five-game season-opening win streak alive. With those two goals, Fischer, a kinesiology and health science major, now has more regular season goals than playoff goals, after scoring two in the 2024 regular season and potting the tying or go-ahead goal in each of the 2024 and 2025 OUA semi-finals, including the extra-time winner in the 2024 semi against the TMU Bold.

Fischer and the Lions will travel to Sault Ste. Marie this weekend to play the Algoma Thunderbirds in a pair of games. Both affairs, Saturday and Sunday, begin at 3:15 p.m., and are available free of charge on OUA TV.