Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Paul Sickinger (Tyngsboro, Mass.) potted a goal late in the second half as the Nichols College men's soccer team defeated Wentworth 1-0 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Tuesday evening at Sweeney Field.

The win marks the 100th career win for head coach Chris Traina as the men's soccer coach after going 35-18-5 as the women's soccer head coach. He moves to 7-5 all-time against the Leopards.

"About 10 days ago, my wife was reluctant to let me know that I was at 98 wins as the men's coach," said Traina. "She knows I am very supersticious. The truth is that without the right players there is no way this success can happen. I am sharing this moment with the 3-14-1 team back in 2005 just as much as I share it with these guys today. They all gave it their all for the program to be where it is today."

The win, coupled with Gordon's 3-2 loss to Roger Williams, clinches the No. 1 seed in the CCC Tournament and the Bison (11-2-4, 6-1-2 CCC) will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Nichols outshot Wentworth 9-5 in the first half, however, neither team could find the net.

The Leopards had a chance to get on the board in the second half, however junior Alberto Benhamu (Caracas, Venezuela) sailed a shot high over the crossbar. After 84 minutes of play, the first goal of the game was finally scored by Nichols. A Wentworth foul saw a direct kick from 25 yards out where senior Michael Perry (Plainville, Mass.) took the set piece and shot it into a mob of Leopard defenders. Sickinger was able to come up with the loose ball after the scrum and find the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season.

Freshman Rielee Mohsin (Stuart, Fla.) paced the Bison with five shots including a direct kick late in the match that hit the post while sophomore David Melanson (Simsbury, Conn.) added four. The Leopards were led by juniors Sam Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.), Benhamu, and Arberi Ferraj (Moosup, Conn.) with two shots apiece.

Senior goaltender Jeremy Nash (West Springfield, Mass.) stopped all five shots he faced on his way to his sixth shutout of the season. Nash improves his conference-leading goals against average (GAA) to 0.45. Freshman Noah Scanlon (Millington, N.J.) falls to 0-3-2 after registering six saves.

The Bison will host a CCC Quarterfinal match on Saturday at Vendetti Field with an opponent and time to be announced. The Leopards conclude their season at 4-8-5 (2-5-2 CCC).