Badgers’ Spagnolo, Ravens’ Conte earn OUA Athlete of the Week honours

Burlington, Ont. – Marilena Spagnolo and Dario Conte have been named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Athletes of the Week for the period ending September 15, 2019.

Female Athlete of the Week – Marilena Spagnolo, Brock Badgers, Soccer

The Brock Badgers earned their first victory of the women’s soccer season on Saturday, followed by a draw the next day, but both results would have been tough to secure without the stellar play from their keeper Marilena Spagnolo.

The fourth-year goalie stood tall amidst a flurry of action against the McMaster Marauders on Saturday en route to making a career-best 16 saves for the St. Catharines squad. Despite being peppered by shots all game long – including nine in the opening half – Spagnolo stood her ground time and time again to shut the door on the Marauders and secure her second clean sheet of the season in Brock’s 2-0 win.

Spagnolo’s stingy play continued into Sunday, when the Badgers travelled to take on York. The Lions once again provided persistent pressure on the applied health sciences major, but to no avail. This time, Spagnolo turned away all eight of York’s shots, including six in the second half, to shut the door on their opposition and help her team secure the valuable point.

The veteran goalkeeper now sports a .919 save percentage on the season to go along with 34 saves, both of which are good enough for third in the conference.

Male Athlete of the Week – Dario Conte, Carleton Ravens, Soccer

Carleton welcomed a pair of northern schools to the nation’s capital this weekend, and backed by a strong offensive showing from Dario Conte, the Ravens managed to defend their home turf in back-to-back wins.

Conte first got on the scoresheet in Carleton’s tilt with Nipissing, opening the scoring with what proved to be the game-winning tally. The talented midfielder connected on an unassisted goal in just the 14th minute, which proved to be the difference in the match that the home side ultimately took 3-0.

The following day, it was Laurentian’s turn to battle the nationally-ranked Ravens, but the offensive presence of the country’s No. 3 team was once again too much to handle. And while it was Conte that opened the scoring the day prior, the third-year standout buried the final goal this time around, offering up an insurance marker in the 73rd minute in the Raven’s eventual 4-1 win.

The goals were the first of the season for Conte, who is now just one off his total from all of 2018.