Parakilas, Kononenko Earn MASCAC Weekly Honors
Nick Parakilas and Marko Kononenko took home MASCAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors after a 2-0 week on the pitch for the Owls.
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State forward Nick Parakilas (Broad Brook, Conn.) and goalkeeper Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine) both earned conference honors this past week with Parakilas named the MASCAC Offensive Player of the Week while Kononenko nabbed the league's Defensive Player of the Week.
Parakilas powered the Owls offense this week with three goals as part of a 2-0 week for Westfield. He wasted no time putting Westfield in front with a goal 15 seconds into the match against Regis. He also notched an insurance marker versus the Pride, then added a goal in Westfield's 4-0 conference opener against Fitchburg.
On the season, Parakilas is second in the MASCAC with five goals in four games. The junior forward has ten career goals in just ten matches played with Westfield.
Kononenko backstopped a strong defensive effort for the Owls this week, posting a .909 save percentage, a 0.50 goals against average and ten saves across a pair of victories. He earned a clean sheet with seven saves in the Owls MASCAC-opening win over the Falcons after logging three saves while tallying an assist on a long ball downfield in the 3-1 win versus Regis.
The sophomore keeper is 3-0 on the young season and is second in the conference in goals against (0.57), save percentage (.846), and goals allowed (two).
Westfield State returns to action on Wednesday for a non-conference home match against Rivier at 7:00 P.M. from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.