Hanley Leads Golden Bears to Dominant First Win in 2023 Campaign

Keene, N.H. (February 21, 2023) - For the first time this season, the Western New England men's lacrosse team took the field, traveling to Keene State College, looking to start the season on a win. The Golden Bears improved to 8-3 in their 11 all time meetings vs the Owls, with a dominant 23-11 victory on the day. Dylan Hanley led the offense for the Golden Bears, tallying ten points (four goals and six assists) in the win.

Records:

• Western New England: 1-0
• Keene State College: 0-2

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears looked to have the same outcome as last year, with another win vs the Owls, after beating them 12-5 at Golden Bear Stadium last season. WNE came out of the gates hot, with a starting faceoff win from Sean Farland, leading to Brian Madden scoring the opening goal for the Golden Bear's 2023 season, just as he did for the 2022 season: this time scoring in just 30 seconds into the contest. Keene State answered quickly, with a goal from Andrew Miller to even the game at one, just over a minute later. Freshmen Nathan Leone and Jacob Roy would each get their first collegiate goals, putting WNE up 3-1. After Jeff Wiedenfeld inched closer for the Owls, by scoring a goal and pulling Keene State to within a goal, WNE went on to score five unanswered goals to end the first quarter, with goals from each Hanley, Roy, Thomas Labbe, and a pair from Noah Rust.

WNE continued to apply the pressure in the second quarter, with Chris Catuosco winning his first faceoff as a Golden Bear, eventually leading to a save from Keene State goalie, Charlie Giuliotti, on James Wrynn's shot, for the ball to roll right to the feet of Jack Houlden, who collected the ball and fired a quick shot on goal, to increase WNE's lead to seven. Hanley would find the back of the net for the second time less than a minute after Houden's goal and also added an assist on the next goal by Brian Madden; after Golden Bear goalkeeper Jonathan Salsbury made two great saves, WNE made their way down the field where Madden scored his second goal on the day. After WNE scored eight straight goals, spanning over 16 minutes of game time, Miller ended the Owl's scoring drought adding two goals, one of which were a man-up. Miller's teammate, Colby Quiet, would add another goal to the board, just 30 seconds later, to bring the Owls to within six, making the score 11-5. After neither team scored for the following four minutes, leading to just under two minutes left in the first half, where Ben Kolb would find an opening past the goalie, where he would find the back of the net. WNE and Keene State would trade goals over the next minute of game time, with goals coming from Houlden, assisted by Hanley, for WNE and Giacomo Tedone for Keene State. Hanley would find Rust open, for his third goal on the day, before scoring his own third goal. With the clock running out in the first half, Catuosco would win the faceoff and take the ball down the field to the offensive zone, before an Owl defender would knock the ball loose and try to pass it back to his goalie; Hanley would intercept the pass and fire the ball on net behind his own back, without looking, getting the ball past the Owl's goalkeeper, with a second to spare in the half, to increase WNE's lead to 15-6.

In the third, Hanley would find Houlden a minute into the half for a goal. The next four goals would be traded back and forth between the teams, with Hayden Gourley finding Cooper Cioffi open in front of the goal, for an Owl goal. Hanley would find Madden for WNE's answer a few minutes later, but soon after, Nathan Sickles would net his second goal of the season. Rust, Houlden, and Nicholas Campagnone would score the next three goals for WNE, before Ben Turkey would score for Keene State, with little time to spare in the quarter. Wrynn would then score a man-up goal for WNE, before the hosts would find the back of the net with less than a second left in the quarter, as Colby Quiet scored a man-down goal to wrap up the quarter.

In the fourth, only four goals would be scored. Sickles would open the quarter with a man-up goal, before Hanley would score his fourth on the day just a few minutes later. Keene State and WNE would trade goals with Connor Woods would find the back of the net after a pass from Ben Wright, and Anthony Gesino would net his first collegiate goal for the Golden Bears, to wrap up the scoring on the day.

Inside the Crease:

• Western New England moves to 1-0 on the season, for the sixth consecutive season, led by ten points from Dylan Hanley.

• WNE went 25 for 39 on faceoffs, led by Sean Farland, winning 15 of 19.

• The Golden Bears collected 35 ground balls in the win.

• Jack Houlden and captain Noah Rust joined Hanley by all scoring four goals, along with Brian Madden totaling three goals.

• Nathan Sickles tallied four points (two goals and two assists) and Andrew Miller netted three goals in the Owl's loss.

 Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England hosts Coast Guard for their home opener, this upcoming Saturday, February 25 at 3:00 pm.

• Keene State has eight days until their next game, when they will host Vassar College on Wednesday, March 1 at 5:00 pm.