SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Oct. 26) – A trio of Nichols College fall student-athletes have earned weekly honors from The Commonwealth Coast Conference, it was announced Monday, October 26. Junior forward Mark Capitanio (Mansfield, Mass.) was named the Men's Soccer Player of the Week, first year forward Samantha Abro (Northborough, Mass.) earned the Women's Soccer Player of the Week award, and first year midfielder Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass.) picked up Field Hockey Rookie of the Week honors. In addition, Capitanio was recognized as the ECAC DIII New England Men's Soccer Player of the Week.
Capitanio helped the Bison to a pair of crucial conference wins over Eastern Nazarene and University of New England with two goals and an assist. He assisted on the game-winner and also provided an insurance goal in the 65th minute of a 3-1 home win over Eastern Nazarene. On Saturday, he notched the game-winner in the 58th minute on a free kick to lift the Bison to a 2-1 win over UNE. Capitanio leads the Bison with 23 points on eight goals and seven assists.
Abro led the Bison to a 2-0 week with a goal in a 3-2 win over Eastern Nazarene before scoring the eventual game-winner and dishing out an assist in a 2-1 win over the University of New England, giving the Nor'easters their first loss in nine games. Abro leads the conference with 21 goals on the year.
Widdison scored the first goal and added an assist on the game-winner in a 2-1 victory on the road against Gordon on Saturday to help the Bison finish up the year with a 7-1 record in conference play, part of a three-way tie atop the standings in a share for the regular season title. She has five goals and seven assists on the year.
The men's and women's soccer teams wrap up their TCCC slates with games at Colby-Sawyer this week. The women take on the Chargers on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., while the men follow with a 3:30 p.m. game in New London, N.H. on Wednesday. The field hockey team, which earned the third seed in the TCCC tournament, hosts sixth-seeded Gordon on Saturday for an 11 a.m. quarterfinal game.