Dominant First Half Leads Men’s Lacrosse to Conference Opening Win

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 26, 2022) – The Western New England men's lacrosse team took down the Nor'easters of the University of New England on Saturday, picking up their first conference win in their first conference game of the season, winning by a final score of 23-7.

Records:

• Western New England: 5-3, 1-0 CCC
• University of New England: 4-6, 0-1 CCC

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears erupted in the first half, scoring 16 of their 23 goals in the opening 30 minutes of play. The Nor'easters got off to a brilliant start, scoring the first goal of the game in their first CCC game of the season as Ryan Hazard took a shot past Carter Randall, giving UNE the opening 1-0 lead. From there, Western New England would rip off the next seven goals to end the first quarter. Mike Bannon started the scoring parade for WNE, 34 second after the UNE goal to tie the contest at one. Bannon wouldn't stop there, as he collected the next tally for Western New England, giving the Golden Bears a 2-1 lead, a lead WNE held onto for the remainder of the contest. Jared Newall picked up his first tally from Matt Greer with 8:22 to play in the quarter, while Noah Rust scored for WNE with just less than six minutes to play. Bannon, Greer, and Newall would all collected extra tallies in the final three minutes of the quarter, sending WNE to a 7-1 lead after 15 minutes of play. Western New England would outshoot UNE 15-2 in the first quarter.

The Golden Bears would score 15 goals in a row before the Nor'easters came through with one, which included eight straight markers to open the second quarter. Jared Newall would score three straight goals in a three-minute span to give WNE a 9-1 lead with Brian Madden coming away with an assist from WNE in the sequence. Joseph Bussinelli would collect the Golden Bears tenth goal of the game on an assist from Zachary Mein to give the Golden Bears a nine-goal lead. The trio of Bannon, Greer, and Newall would combine for the next four Golden Bears goals, while Ben Kolb picked up a goal from Jamaurie James with six minutes to play in the quarter to give Western New England a 14-goal lead with six minutes remaining. The Nor'easters would come back with four of the final five goals of the second quarter, with James Wrynn picking up a goal for WNE. The Nor'easters final goal of the quarter came in the final second, as a full distance field shot from Will Szumita found the back of the net, ending the quarter with an 11-goal lead for WNE, 16-5. In the quarter, WNE would collect 14 more shots, while UNE came through with seven. Randall came away with a single save in the second quarter for the Golden Bears.

Scoring would cool off in the third quarter as Western New England would come away with three of the four goals. Matthew Quinn, Zachary Mein, and Dylan Hanley would all pick up tallies in the quarter for Western New England, as the Golden Bears came away with a 13 goal lead after three quarters. Jonathon Salsbury made one save in the third quarter, coming in relief. WNE outshot UNE 12-7 in quarter three.

The fourth quarter was short of scoring compared to the first three quarters, though the Golden Bears came away with four of the five tallies in the quarter, taking a commanding lead, defeating the Nor'easters 23-7. Joseph Bussinelli picked up a goal from Colin Hughes and Matthew Quinn scored from David Kasper. Trevor Crawford and Ty Allen would collect the final two goals of the afternoon for the Golden Bears, seizing a big 16 goal victory over the Nor'easters for their first conference win of the season.

Inside the Arc:

• Western New England was led by Mike Bannon, who scored five times in the win for Western New England, as well as picking up three assists, good for eight points.
• Jared Newall also collected five tallies for the Golden Bears, while taking six shots on goal in the win.
• Matthew Quinn, Matt Greer, and Joseph Bussinelli collected multiple goals for Western New England.
• Colin Watt scored three of the Nor'easters seven goals while taking four total shots in the loss.
• Western New England is 17-0 all-time against the Nor'easters.
• Joseph Clement made his debut between the pipes for WNE in the win, coming into action in the fourth quarter.
• WNE was successful in 20-33 faceoffs in the win, while going 16-18 in clears. The Golden Bears scooped 39 groundballs and scored on one man-up chance.
• The Golden Bears doubled up the Nor'easters in shots, coming away with 48 to UNE's 24.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England turns back to non-conference action as they host Amherst College on Tuesday, March 29 from Golden Bear Stadium at 7:00 pm.
• UNE returns to Blue Bolt Field on Wednesday, March 30 for a CCC game with Endicott College at 7:00 pm.