Strong Fourth Quarter Defense Leads Golden Bears Past UNE 24-17

BIDDEFORD, Maine (November 6, 2021) – The Golden Bears' football team continued Commonwealth Coast Conference play today as they traveled to the University of New England to defeat the Nor'Easters 24-17 and extend their win streak to three.

Records:

• Western New England: 6-3, 4-1 CCC
• University of New England: 3-5, 1-4 CCC

How It Happened:

The Golden Bears defense started out strong ending the Nor'Easters first drive after four plays to set up the offense for their first drive at the Western New England 37-yard line. On the very first play for the Golden Bears, Carlos Martin Nieto found Adam Razza who went for a 63-yard touchdown pass at the 12:37 mark. Matt Gilbert went out to make the extra point and put Western New England ahead 7-0 less than three minutes into the game. The remainder of the first quarter was a defensive showdown with Jake Chiasson recording a sack to end a Nor'Easter drive. The first 15:00 minutes of play ended with Western New England leading 7-0.

In the second quarter, the defenses continued to stand tough with the Nor'Easters intercepting a pass in Western New England's second drive of the quarter. UNE then turned around to score on that very next drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass followed by a good PAT to tie the game 7-7. The Golden Bears answered immediately scoring on their very next drive off another Martin Nieto pass finding Steven Fedorchak in the endzone for a 6-yard touchdown pass. Gilbert converted on the point after attempt to put the Golden Bears back in the lead 14-7. The half ended with Western New England leading UNE 14-7.

The third quarter opened with the Nor'Easters recording a 30-yard field goal on their first drive of the second half to get within four of the Golden Bears (14-10). UNE scored again on their next drive with a three-yard touchdown rush to earn a 17-14 lead over Western New England with 7:40 left in the third quarter. The Golden Bears responded on their very next drive of nine plays that resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Gilbert to tie the game once again at 17-17 with just under four minutes left in the quarter. The third quarter ended with the two teams tied 17-17 with only 15 minutes left to play.

On the Nor'Easters first drive of the fourth quarter, Omari Lewis came up big for the Golden Bears intercepting a pass and returning it 21 yards to give Western New England possession of the ball at the UNE 44-yard line. This drive resulted in a one-yard touchdown run for senior Ian Britt followed by a good PAT by Gilbert which would end up being the winning touchdown. The Golden Bears led 24-17 and held on to their lead the remainder of the fourth quarter. An interception by Jameson Gill on the Nor'Easters final drive of the game sealed the victory for the Golden Bears to extend their win streak to three and defeat their conference rival 24-17 on the road.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears recorded 291 yards of offense today, 194 in the air and 97 on the ground while tallying 18 first downs and possessing the ball for 26:35 of the game.
• Martin Nieto went 11-for-20 at quarterback with 194 yards for two touchdowns and one interception.
• Dillon Kohl recorded the most rushing yards for the Golden Bears with 50 yards on eight attempts while Martin Nieto tallied 12 attempts and Britt recorded 10 attempts for 47 yards and one touchdown.
• Razza led the receiving corps with six catches for 138 yards and one touchdown while Fedorchak continues to extend the program record for touchdown catches recording one touchdown today on two completions for 26 yards.
• Gilbert went 3-for-3 on extra points while also recording a 21-yard field goal for a total of six points in the game for the Golden Bears.
• Both Lewis and Gill recorded interceptions in the game with Lewis returning his 21-yards.
• Jake Chiasson led the team with 12 tackles with one sack for a loss of one yard while also earning two tackles for losses for a total of 13 yards.
• Richie Watson and Gill tallied seven tackles apiece in the game.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears host their final game of the regular season on Saturday, November 13, for senior day against Husson at 1 p.m.