After an undefeated week of soccer for both the men’s and women’s programs this week, the College of Staten Island garnered a couple of weekly City University of New York Athletic Conference citations. Sophomore striker Nicholas Bacarella earned the conference’s Player of the Week honor on the men’s side of the ledger, while junior Nicole Molinell won Defender of the Week on the women’s pitch.
Bacarella had a hand in CSI’s scoring in all three of its game’s a week ago, all wins for CSI. In a 4-3 win over Farmingdale State last Monday, Bacarella bagged his first assist on the season when he fed Alfonso Castaneda for a tally. The goal was a big one; as CSI was down 2-0 early, only to go on to win in overtime. Two days later, Bacarella was razor-sharp in a 3-1 win over New Jersey City University. The sophomore tallied CSI’s first goal, a dazzling one-timer from the top of the box to give CSI a 1-0 advantage. Finally, in CSI’s CUNYAC-opener on Saturday, Bacarella secured the CSI win by scoring the second goal in a 2-0 win, his fourth tally of the season.
For the year, Bacarella leads the Dolphins with four goals and 9 total points, adding 15 total shots, good for second on the squad. CSI is now 3-5 this season, but is riding three-straight wins when it goes into its next test against Old Westbury on Tuesday afternoon on the road.
The Dolphin women went 2-0 last week, scoring a pair of CUNYAC wins, including a come-from-behind, 2-1, win over Lehman College on Tuesday. A true defender, Molinell garnered no stats for the Dolphins, but was a stalwart on the backline, as CSI allowed just four shots on goal through two games this past week. Molinell, normally flanking the left side, hardly had any runs generated from her direction and for the week, CSI outscored the opposition 12-1 and outshot their two opponents, 56-6.
CSI is next in action on Tuesday, when they travel to Aviator Field in Brooklyn to take on York College, continuing their CUNYAC slate of games.
