Western New England’s Most Successful Season in a Decade Ends with 7-0 Loss to UNE in CCC Title Game

Golden Bears finish 2016 campaign at 10-10

BIDDEFORD, Maine (November 5, 2016) – Making its first appearance in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship game in program history, the third-seeded Western New England University field hockey team fell to top-seeded University of New England, 7-0, this afternoon at UNE's Big Blue Turf.

With the loss, Western New England's most successful season in a decade comes to a close at 10-10. The Golden Bears finished with a .500 or better record for the first time since 2006, while the program's ten wins are the most since 2010. The University of New England (19-3) earns the CCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which gets underway with first round action on Wednesday, November 9.

Top Performers
• Junior forward Allison Jackson (Mahopac, N.Y.) finished with a team-high two shots, including one on goal.

• UNE senior forward Nicole Matarozzo (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and junior forward Vonde Saunders (Center Conway, N.H.) fueled the Nor'easters' offense with three goals each.
• Senior goalie Holly Smith (Peabody, Mass.) registered a five-save shutout.

Game Review
• Saunders staked the Nor'easters to a 1-0 lead just 42 seconds into the contest on a feed from junior forward Hannah Buckley (Leominster, Mass.). UNE doubled its lead less than three minutes later, before going up 3-0 at the 13:17 mark on Saunders' second of the afternoon.
• Matarozzo made it 4-0 in favor of the home team in the 23^rd minute, and the Nor'easters led by the same margin at halftime.
• Matarozzo completed her hat trick with goals in the 42^nd and 48^th minutes, respectively, before assisting on Saunders' goal that capped the scoring at the 48:20 mark.

Notes
• UNE outshot the Golden Bears by a 24-8 margin, and the Nor'easters took nine penalty corners to Western New England's seven.
• Western New England lost by an identical 7-0 score when these two teams met in Biddeford on September 17.
• Golden Bear goalies Grace Trupe (Cardiff, Calif.) and Dominique Corveddu (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.) made a combined 11 saves.