Golden Bears Double Up Leopards, 18-9

BOSTON, Mass. (April 9, 2022) – After going back and forth in the first quarter, the Western New England men's lacrosse team outdueled the Wentworth Institute of Technology in the next two quarters, outscoring the Leopards 14-1, finishing with a 18-9 win over the CCC opponent from Sweeney Field on a rainy Saturday afternoon. 

Records:

• Western New England: 7-5, 3-0 CCC
• Wentworth Institute: 6-4, 2-1 CCC

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears got off to a quick start in the contest as Matt Greer opened the scoring for Western New England on an assist from Mike Bannon to get the Golden Bears rolling in CCC play. Western New England would quickly double their lead just 47 seconds later, when Noah Rust found the back of the net for his eighth goal of the season to put Western New England ahead 2-0. Dylan Hanley would grab an assist on the Rust tally to push Western New England to a quick lead. Wentworth would have an answer for the Golden Bears two goals, picking up the next three goals of the quarter to take their first lead of the rainy afternoon. Sam Prunier scored his 17^th goal of the season for the Leopards, while Erik Madden would tie, and eventually give Wentworth a one goal lead with 3:31 to play in the opening 15 minutes. With just under two minutes to play in the quarter, Western New England's Joseph Contino would find the back of the net to tie the game again on an assist from Ben Kolb. The Golden Bears would surrender a goal when Wentworth's Jared Hiller scored his 9^thof the season to take a 4-3 lead with 19 seconds remaining. After a faceoff win by Jack Seiter and a groundball scooped by Matt Greer, Greer would go right to goal, making a pass to Seiter, who scored for Western New England with four seconds to play in the quarter, ending the quarter with a score of 4-4. First year Jonathon Salsbury made his first collegiate start in the net for Western New England, making one save in the opening 15 minutes. Wentworth's Jack Munroe failed to make a save in the quarter. 

The Golden Bears would find their offensive game in the second quarter, scoring all eight goals over the Leopards, taking a big 12-4 lead at halftime. Mike Bannon started off the quarter with a goal on an assist from Ben Kolb, while Matt Greer would score less than a minute later to give Western New England a two-goal lead, at 6-4. Jared Newall would grab the next three goals for Western New England, completing a hat trick in under three minutes of game action, giving the Golden Bears a five-goal lead. Ben Kolb would pick up his first goal of the afternoon to go along with his two previous assists, whlie Conor Tracy found the back of the net for WNE with 4:22 to play. Mike Bannon closed out the scoring in the quarter giving Western New England their 12^thgoal of the afternoon, taking an eight-goal lead into the break. Western New England outshot WIT 22-4 in the second quarter. 

Western New England would record 13 straight goals in the contest, including the first four to open the third quarter. Conor Tracy, Mike Bannon, Matt Greer, and Jared Newall would all dial up goals for the Golden Bears, taking a double-digit lead into the game for the first time on the afternoon. Wentworth would score just one goal in the third quarter as Fisher Dryden would come away with that tally at the 4:31 mark of the third. Newall would finish the third quarter with the final two Golden Bear goals giving Western New England an 18-5 lead at the end of the third quarter. WNE again outshot WIT, this time 16-5 in the third. 

Wentworth would score all of the goals in the fourth quarter, though the 18 goals already piled on by the Golden Bears would be plenty to win the game for WNE. Wentworth would come around with 11 shots in the fourth quarter as Salsbury came away with two fourth quarter saves and Campbell Manolis would make one save in relief in the final four minutes of play, securing the win for Western New England. The Golden Bears would win, finalizing the score at 18-9. 

Inside the Arc:

• Jared Newall led all goal scorers on the afternoon, coming away with six goals for the Golden Bears. Newall took 13 shots, nine on goal in the win while also collecting one ground ball and one caused turnover. 
• Matt Greer totaled eight points for WNE on the afternoon, a high in the contest. Greer scored three times and collected five assists in the win. Greer also scooped three ground balls and caused a turnover. 
• Mike Bannon (3 G, 4 A), Ben Kolb (1 G, 2 A), and Conor Tracy (2 G, 1 A) all went for multiple point outings for Western New England. 
• WNE won 21/30 faceoffs in the contest, going 8/9 in the second quarter. The Golden Bears outshot Wentworth 47-28 in the win, while scooping 47 groundballs. 
• Jonathon Salsbury made nine saves while allowing just seven goals in 56 minutes of action, earning his first collegiate win in his career. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE concludes their four-game road trip on Wednesday. April 13 at 7:00 pm when they travel to Nichols College in CCC play. 
• Wentworth travels to Curry College on the same date.