Men's Lacrosse Draws No. 11 University of Lynchburg in NCAA Second Round

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (May 9, 2022) - The Western New England men's lacrosse team received an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championships following their 18-10 win in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship game on Saturday afternoon over the Endicott College Gulls. Announced in the NCAA selection show on Sunday night, the Golden Bears will meet No. 11 University of Lynchburg on Saturday, May 14 at Union College, who was selected to host a section of the bracket. 

Western New England: 

The Golden Bears received their automatic selection into the show after a 14-5 season which saw Western New England go 8-0 in CCC play. The Golden Bears got off to a quick 4-0 start to the season, defeating Clark University, Keene State, Coast Guard and Bates College, three of those contests coming on the road. WNE would then travel to Tampa, Florida to take on both St. Lawrence University and Nazareth College where WNE would come up short in both games, unable to pull out a win. WNE would return home to face top seeded Bowdoin College where the Polar Bears proved to be too much for the Golden Bears, falling in their third straight contest early in the season. 

Western New England, who has historic success is conference play, would see the University of New England travel to Golden Bear Stadium for the conference opener. Western New England would defeat UNE 23-7 in the conference opener, ending their three-game losing streak. The Golden Bears would welcome their second NESCAC opponent to Springfield, when Amherst College paid a visit and snuck away with a mere 11-10 win over the Golden Bears. Western New England would pick up right where they left off in CCC play as just two days later, WNE would take care of business at Curry College, defeating the Colonels 17-4. 

Western New England would take on cross-town rival Springfield College to open their April schedule, playing in their final non-conference regular season game. The Pride would come away victorious on their home field, taking down WNE 17-12. The Golden Bears would close their 2022 season with six important conference games, including two on the road that turned out victories for WNE, beating Wentworth Institute of Technology and Nichols College by a 36-14 margin. The Golden Bears would then showdown with their rivals of the CCC, the Endicott College Gulls from Golden Bear Stadium. Western New England would come out with a win, taking down Endicott 9-7. WNE would wrap up their final three conference games with wins vs. Salve Regina University, Roger Williams University and at Gordon College to finish perfect in Commonwealth Coast Conference play.

The Golden Bears would receive a first-round bye in the CCC Quarterfinals, being the number one seed in the tournament. Western New England would host the CCC semifinals against No. 6  seeded Nichols College, who stunned the three seeded Seahawks of Salve Regina in the CCC Quarterfinals. WNE would have no problems getting by Nichols, taking down the Bison 20-7 to move into the CCC Championship game. WNE would match again with the rival Gulls of Endicott. This would be the ninth consecutive season that Western New England and Endicott would face off in the Championship game.  In the contest, Western New England would jump out to an early 5-0 lead after one quarter of play and never look back, winning the CCC Championship by a final score of 18-10, picking up their ninth conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championships. 

Golden Bears Top Performers:

The Golden Bears scored 299 goals in 19 games this season, coming away with 183 assists, and 47 shots per game. WNE was led by graduate student Matt Greer, who put up 86 points this season, scoring 34 goals and collecting 52 assists. Greer, the CCC Offensive Player of the Year,  started in all 19 games on the season for Western New England, scooping 48 ground balls and causing five turnovers. The attack took 82 shots, putting 65 on goal. Graduate student Jared Newall found the back of the net 56 times on the season, which included eight goals in the CCC tournament. Newall's 56 goals led all scorers for Western New England on the year. Senior Mike Bannon has contributed for Western New England in the offensive zone, coming away with 36 goals and 36 assists this season, good for 72 points, which ranks second on the team. Bannon has scooped 30 ground balls for the Golden Bears and has caused seven turnovers. The senior has taken over 100 shots, putting 59 on goal. On defense, both Kevin Faustich and Mitch Weiss have been the anchors for the Golden Bears, collecting a combined 111 ground balls and causing 39 turnovers between the two defenders. Weiss was named CCC Defensive Player of the Year. GK Carter Randall has suited up for 17 games for WNE this season, collecting 12 wins for the Golden Bears. Randall has made 172 saves on the season, coming away with the last six wins for WNE. 

University of Lynchburg:
The Hornets earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after defeating Hampden-Sydney in the ODAC Tournament on Sunday afternoon, also picking up their ninth conference title.  The Hornets started their season with a conference win over Ferrum, winning that contest handedly 25-1. Lynchburg would rip off the first three wins of the season defeating Greensboro, and No. 8 Cabrini on home field. The Hornets would go 3-3 in the month of March, seeing a loss to No. 2 Salisbury University before collecting two wins in a row against St. Mary's Maryland and No. 18 Denison University. The Hornets would drop two in a row to top ranked teams in Division III men's lacrosse, falling to No. 4 Christopher Newport and No. 3 Tufts University. The University of Lynchburg would go 8-1 down the stretch in conference play, including winning their final seven conference contest games to end the regular season with a 9-1 ODAC record. 

The Hornets, like the Golden Bears, would need just two wins in their conference playoffs to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Hornets would defeat Roanoke University 17-9 in the ODAC semifinals to move into the championship where they would face Hampden-Sydney. The Hornets would come away with a victory, being crowned ODAC Champions for the ninth time in their program history. 

Hornets Top Performers:

The Hornets have scored 335 goals on the season while collecting 207 assists on 46 shots per game. Seniors Kyle Lewis and Ryan Kenney have led the charge for the Hornets all season, with Lewis leading the Hornets with 59 assists, while Kenney leads the Hornets with 66 goals on the season. Junior Chris Darminio has led the Hornets defense this season, coming away with 84 ground balls and has caused a team best 24 turnovers. The Hornets have split time between the pipes between junior's Patrick Moore and Tyler Hadley. The two keepers have combined for all 14 of the Hornets wins and have made a combined 161 saves this season. 

NCAA Tournament History:

Western New England enters the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time, with their last win coming in 2013, when WNE went 2-1 in the tournament, taking down both Eastern Connecticut and Nazareth College before falling in the Quarterfinals. WNE last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, falling in the second round of the tournament to Wesleyan (Conn.) University. Western New England is the only team from the CCC to make it to the Quarterfinal round. The Golden Bears made it to the QF round in 2008, 2009, and 2013. Since 2004 either Endicott College or Western New England have been the representatives from the conference to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The two schools have made it once in the same season, coming in 2014 when WNE was defeated in the first-round while Endicott made it to the second round before bowing out. 

The University of Lynchburg has had success in the NCAA Tournament, collecting a 13-14 record all time. The Hornets last appeared in the tournament just a year ago in 2021, going 2-1, taking down Pfeiffer University and Stevens Institute of Technology before dropping an OT contest to Christopher Newport in the Quarterfinal round. Lynchburg finished as National runner-up in 2015 after losing in the Championship game to Tufts University. 

Second Round Contest:

Western New England will matchup with the University of Lynchburg on Saturday, May 14 at 3:00 pm from Union College, who was selected as the host school for the opening three round games. Union will meet either John Carroll University or North Central Illinois, depending on the winner of that first round game. The winners of Saturday's games will meet in the third round of the tournament on Sunday, May 15 at 3:00 pm from Union College. From there, the winner will advance to the national quarterfinals, held on Saturday, May 21. 

The NCAA Division III men's lacrosse national championship game will be held in East Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday, May 29 from historic Rentschler Field.