Bannon Records 100th Assist, Men’s Lacrosse Crowned CCC Regular Season Champions

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 27, 2022) – The Western New England men's lacrosse team collected their eighth straight conference victory on Wedneday night, defeating the visiting Roger Williams University Hawks by a final score of 14-4, securing the top seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament, which will begin on Saturday, April 30 in the quarterfinal round. WNE will receive a bye in the first round for winning the regular season title. In the win, Mike Bannon registered his 100^th career assist.  

Records:

• Western New England: 12-5, 8-0 CCC
• Roger Williams: 8-10, 5-3 CCC

How it Happened:

Already locked into the top seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament, the Western New England men's lacrosse team looked to remain perfect in CCC play, facing their final opponent of the regular season, the only team the Golden Bears have yet to beat in conference play. Western New England was unable to get off to a quick start as Roger Williams would fire in the first goal of the night when Pat Barboza found the back of the net to give the Hawks the opening 1-0 lead. Western New England's Matt Greer would come away with the Golden Bears first goal of the game to even the score at one. Greer continues to add to his career high in goals, which stands at 29 on the season. The Hawks would come back just a minute and a half later and grab the next goal of the game when Noah Ravas scored for Roger Williams, getting the Hawks their second lead of the quarter. The Golden Bear offense would come alive again with under two minutes to play as WNE would see Dylan Hanley pick up his first of the night on an assist from Jamaurie James to even the score at two. After a Jack Seiter faceoff victory, Western New England's Conor Tracy would take the ball right to goal and riffle a shot past Max Kimmel to give the Golden Bears their first lead of the night. Western New England would end the quarter with a goal with eight seconds remaining from Noah Rust who received the ball from Mike Bannon and took a shot that beat the Hawks keeper giving WNE a 4-2 first quarter lead. The assist from Bannon is number 100 in his decorated WNE career. Western New England took 15 shots in the opening quarter while the visitors came around with nine. 

The Golden Bears would score the only two goals of the second quarter as both teams ramped up their defense. A goal with 8:06 to play in the quarter by Brian Madden would give Western New England a 5-2 lead. Madden would come away with the other tally in the quarter as well with 5:13 to play, as the Golden Bears took a four-goal lead into the locker room. In the quarter, Western New England came away with 12 shots while Max Kimmel made five saves. The Hawks took seven shots in the second quarter, two going on goal which were both steered aside by Carter Randall. 

The goal streak would continue to run in the Golden Bears favor who scored five additional goals in the third quarter to take a commanding 11-2 lead after 45 minutes of play. Noah Rust, Kevin Faustich, Conor Tracy, Murphy Hartmann, and Joseph Bussinelli would all score in the quarter for the Golden Bears, who outshot Roger Williams 15-5 in the quarter to take the nine-goal advantage.

The Golden Bears would rip off 11 straight goals in the contest with Zachary Mein picking up Western New England's 12^th tally of the game on an unassisted mark to strengthen the Golden Bear lead to ten goals. Roger Williams came away with their first goal with 12:20 remaining in the fourth since their second tally which came with 7:40 remaining in the first quarter. Mike Bannon and Conor Tracy would add a tally each in the fourth as WNE would come away with an empathic 14-4 victory over Roger Williams, crowning themselves CCC Regular Season Champions, going 8-0 in conference play. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Mike Bannon scored a goal and added two assists on the night, picking up his 100^th career assist in the win for WNE. Bannon is now five points shy of the 200 mark in his career. 
• Matt Greer came through with a goal and three assist to lead all Golden Bears with four points. 
• Conor Tracy (3 G), Noah Rust (2 G), and Brian Madden (2 G) all scored in double figured for WNE.
• Carter Randall made seven saves in 56 minutes of action while Jonathon Salsbury came away with one save without allowing a goal in four minutes of play. 
• WNE outshot Roger Williams 57-26, winning 14 of 22 faceoffs, and scooping a season high 53 ground balls. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England secured the #1 seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament and will play host to the lowest remaining seed that survives the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, May 4. 
• Roger Williams will play host to Wentworth Institute on Saturday, April 30 in the CCC Quarterfinal round. RWU will be the 4 seed while Wentworth travels as the 5 seed.