Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior running back Jordan Capitanio (Torrington, CT) rushed for a game high 86 yards and two touchdowns as Western New England College ended its season on a winning note with a 30-10 victory over visiting Nichols College Saturday (Nov. 3) in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) Boyd Division contest.

The Golden Bears, who broke a six-game losing streak, completed their season with a 3-7 record (1-6 Boyd) after capturing their first division contest.

Capitanio scored on runs of 1 and 20 yards in the first quarter to give the Golden Bears a 14-0 lead.

The Bison got on the board with a 37-yard field goal by freshman Mark Capitanio (Mansfield, MA) at the 6:19 mark of the second quarter. The Golden Bears answered with a 37-yard field goal of their own by junior James Farrell (East Longmeadow, MA) on the next possession with 5:34
left in the half.

WNEC took a 23-3 lead into half-time when sophomore quarterback Justin Walz (Groton, CT) (17-for-29, 190 yards) tossed a six-yard scoring pass to sophomore receiver Chris Vaillant (Holliston, MA) with just 1:06 remaining in the second half.

Walz added a three-yard run with 10:36 left in the third quarter to give Western New England College a comfortable 30-3 advantage.

Nichols scored its final points when freshman Chris Stewart (New Haven, CT) recovered a fumble on a punt attempt and ran two yards for a touchdown with 1:43 remaining in the contest. Freshman quarterback Kevin Oberg (New Milford, CT) completed 6-for-14 passes for 58 yards and ran for 40 yards on eight attempts. Freshman linebacker Curtis Smith (New Haven, CT) had a game-high 14 tackles.

The Bison end their campaign with a 5-4 record, icnluding a 4-3 Boyd Division mark.

Western New England College out-gained Nichols by a 342 to 169 margin on the windy and rainy afternoon as the outer bands of Hurricane Noel hit the Springfield area. This was the least amount of points allowed by the Golden Bears this season.

Vaillant finished with five receptions for 67 yards while senior receiver Kevin Miculcy (Greenwich, CT) had five catches for 34 yards. Miculcy ended his career with 185 receptions and 2,388 yards (both
school marks). Freshmen linebackers Dylan Chandler (Durham, ME) and Justin Bailey (Northborough, MA) contributed 13 and 10 tackles, respectively.

Story courtesy of WNEC Sports Information