Mark Naclerio ’16 is starting his second season on men’s ice hockey with a bang after scoring two goals Friday in a 4-1 victory over Yale, the defending national champion, and notching another score in a 5-3 win over Dartmouth Saturday. He was recognized for his explosive start by being named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week.
But Naclerio is no stranger to the spotlight. In his first season on the ice, the forward was one of only seven to play in all 36 games and was the second top scorer on the team (16-14-6, 7-9-6 ECAC), which advanced to the ECAC finals before falling to Union College. Naclerio received the James H. Fullerton Memorial Trophy as Brown’s Rookie of the Year at the end of last season.
For his notable contributions in kicking off the season, Naclerio is named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.
The Herald: What did you think of your performance this weekend?
Naclerio: I was really happy with it. The team as a whole played really well. We came out hard and we were really excited to play Yale, the defending national champs, and we really worked a lot and came out with a win.
What’s the feeling of scoring two goals in a match against the current national champions?
Well the focus was get a couple goals early on with the first couple games of the season. Sometimes guys get frustrated if they don’t get one for a couple games, so it was really good to get that under my belt.
Do you have any rituals, either personally or as a team, that you do before big games?
We always stretch as a team, we do the same thing, coach gives us a pep talk and we kick around a soccer ball a little bit. And then we get our sticks and go into warm-up, so nothing out of the ordinary, but we have little things that we do.
What’s the most memorable goal you’ve ever scored?
I guess it would be in high school, my junior year — I scored the game-winner in a New England Championship Semifinals. I scored two goals that game, the fourth and fifth goals. So I guess those would two of my most memorable goals, because then we went on to win the championship after that.
When did you start playing hockey?
I started when I was 5-years-old, so I started a long time ago.
What’s been your favorite class so far?
I really like (ENGN 0090: “Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations”), with Professor (Barrett) Hazeltine. I took that my first fall freshman year, and it was really interesting and he’s a really good teacher.
What’s your favorite place on campus?
I’d say it’s the hockey house on Angell Street. That’s where we all hang out and mess around as a team to have fun.
What do you do in your free time?
Free time? It’s pretty much all spent on hockey and homework. We play some video games every now and then, nothing too crazy.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Just really the start of the hockey season. I really hope that we can push beyond this year. … The goal is of winning a ECAC Championship and going on to the national tournament.
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