Men’s Lacrosse Defeats Nichols College, 18-5

DUDLEY, Mass. (April 13, 2022) – The Western New England men's lacrosse team had no problems taking down the Bison of Nichols College on Wednesday afternoon after they were able to pick up the first four goals of the game, and seven first quarter goals to pace their way to a 18-5 win against the home team. 

Records:

• Western New England: 8-5, 4-0 CCC
• Nichols College: 6-8, 2-3 CCC

How it Happened:

Neither the Golden Bears nor Bison could get on the board in the first six minutes of the game as both goalkeepers came away with early saves to keep the teams even. Noah Rust would open the scoring at the 8:55 mark of the first quarter after he took a pass from Dylan Hanely to give WNE a 1-0 lead. Both Rust and Hanley would pick up their ninth goal and assist of the season. 31 seconds later, graduate student Matt Greer found the back of the net for his 23^rd tally of the season on an assist from Mike Bannon to get the offensive going for WNE to take a 2-0 lead. WNE would keep scoring as Conor Tracy would find the back of the net for the 21^st time on the season to take a 3-0 lead for the Golden Bears. Rust would end the WNE scoring streak, picking up his second of the night, pushing WNE's lead to four. Nichols would get their first of the night when Ryan Warner fired a shot into the back of the net at the 4:39 mark of the quarter, giving the Bison their first goal of the game. The Golden Bears would roar back for two goals in 34 seconds as Hanley would get his 13^thof the season, followed by a Jared Newall tally, who has now scored 47 goals on the season, a team best. Ben Kolb would finish the first quarter of scoring for the Golden Bears, who netted seven in the first, taking a 7-2 lead after 15 minutes of play. WNE was out shot 13-11 in the quarter, though Jonathon Salsbury came away with four big saves for WNE to keep Nichols with just one goal. 

Kolb's goal would spark another four-goal run for Western New England as the Golden Bears picked up the first three goals of the second quarter. Tracy would find twine for his second of the night, while Hanley continued to deliver on the scoresheet to give Western New England a 9-2 lead. Matt Greer found the back of the net for his 24^th goal of the season to give the Golden Bears a 10-2 lead. Nichols would score just once in the second quarter, as the Golden Bears ran off the field with a 10-3 lead at the end of the half. WNE dominated the shots department, coming away with 15 to Nichols' six. 

Nichols would open the scoring in the third quarter as Hunter Ferriera scored his 23^rd goal of the season, closing Western New England's lead to just a six-goal game. The Golden Bears would respond with a goal from Joseph Contino, his 5^th of the season at the 8:18 mark to give Western New England a seven-goal lead. In the winding seconds of the third quarter, Greer would grab his hattrick goal to give Western New England their eight-goal lead back again.

With one quarter remaining, the Golden Bears defense would lock down the Bison, allowing them to score one goal while the WNE offense collected six goals to round out the contest. The fourth quarter started with a WNE goal from Mike Bannon who scored his first of the night after collecting assists on five previous goals to give WNE their largest lead of the night. Jared Newall would come around and extend Western New England's lead to ten goals after picking up his 47^th goal of the season.  Dylan Hanley would score his third of the night just two minutes later to give Western New England a 15-4 lead. Greer would score his final goal of the night for WNE's 16^th goal to lead 16-4. With 3:56 remaining, first year Griffin LaRochelle would pick up his first career collegiate goal to give the Golden Bears a 17-5 lead. LaRochelle would score back-to-back tallies just 50 seconds apart, picking up WNE's last two goals of the night, finalizing the game at 18-5. 

Inside the Arc:

• WNE saw six multi-goal scorers on the night as Matt Greer (4 G), Dylan Hanley (2 G), Noah Rust (2 G), Jared Newall (2 G), Conor Tracy (2 G), and Griffin LaRochelle (2 G), would all grab at least two for WNE. 
• Jonathon Salsbury made 13 saves while giving up just five goals on the night, coming away with a .722 save percentage. Salsbury made his second consecutive start and sixth appearance of the season. 
• Western New England won 17 of 27 faceoffs on the night as Sean Farland, Jack Seiter and Rocco DeSimone were all successful in the circle. 
• WNE outshot Nichols 54-33 in the contest, collecting double digit shots in all four quarters. 
• Nichols was led by their goalkeeper Brady Morgan, who made 27 saves while surrendering 16 Golden Bear goals. 
• The Golden Bears scooped 38 ground balls and successful cleared the ball 25 times on 26 attempts. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns home for a big CCC match with Endicott College on Saturday, April 16 at 4:00 pm. The Golden Bears will also host senior night prior to the first faceoff. 
• Nichols College hosts the University of New England on the same date at 1:00 pm.