MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Wheaton College (Mass.) men's soccer player Declan Rhatigan (Holderness, N.H.) was named the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week for the week of September 29 to October 5, it was announced today by the league.
Rhatigan earns the award for the second time this season after being selected on September 2 to open the weekly award slate and is the first Lyon to earn multiple offensive weekly accolades since Travis Blair '15 was chosen twice during the 2014 campaign. Wheaton has been recognized with a NEWMAC weekly award winner five times this season for the highest number in school history for a single year. Baden McLaughlin (Yarmouth, Maine) was named the Offensive Athlete of the Week on September 8 and senior Aidan Doyle (Kingston, Mass.) was tabbed last week. Senior defender Nelson Leao (Bar Harbor, Maine) was the Defensive Athlete of the Week on September 15.
Rhatigan factored into all five goals for the Lyons in a pair of matches during the week. The junior assisted on the first two scores and netted the final two markers during a 4-0 victory over visiting Anna Maria College on October 1. The forward tallied Wheaton's lone goal in a 1-0 win over NEWMAC foe Emerson College on October 4.
A graduate of Holderness School, Rhatigan is tied for the team and league lead with Doyle with eight goals and 20 points this season. The Granite State native currently ranks 34th in NCAA Division III in total goals and 36th in points.
The six-foot, five-inch Rhatigan has enjoyed a breakout season for the Lyons, netting multiple goals on three occasions and recorded his first collegiate hat trick on August 29 at Saint Joseph's College (Maine) to become the first player in school history to net three goals in the season opener. The Business major has started all 11 matches and notched at least one point in six of them.
For his career, Rhatigan has started 17 of 32 contests, while netting 10 goals to go with five assists for 25 points.
Wheaton is currently 9-0-2 overall this season, including 3-0 in league play, and is ranked seventh in the most recent United Soccer Coaches national poll. The Lyons return to play on Tuesday, October 7 when they host Endicott College on Keefe Field at 3:30 p.m.
