Western New England Falls to Springfield College, 18-12

Gamba scores team-high five goals for Golden Bears

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 2, 2019) – The Western New England University men's lacrosse team fell to crosstown rival Springfield College, 18-12, on Tuesday night in non-conference action at Golden Bear Stadium.  

Top Performers
Junior midfielder Nick Gamba (East Islip, N.Y.) paced the Golden Bears offensively with a team-high five goals. Sophomore attackman Jared Newall (Stratford, Conn.) produced four points with three goals and one assist, while sophomore midfielder Matt Greer (South Windsor, Conn.) was a facilitator with four assists.

Springfield's balanced offensive attack featured five-point efforts from seniors Cole Pecora (North Haven, Conn.), Cameron Glover (Brunswick, Maine) and Lucas Habich (Little Silver, N.J.), as well as sophomore Patrick Watson (Franklin, Mass.) and freshman Zachary Schuette (Ballston Spa, N.Y.).

Game Review
Springfield opened up an early 2-0 lead two minutes into the contest, and the Pride extended their advantage to 5-1 on Schuette's second goal with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter.

Freshman Noah Rust (Windham, N.H.) and senior Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) tallied consecutive goals on feeds from freshman Mike Bannon (Edmond, Okla.) early in the second period to close the gap to two (6-4), but Springfield closed out the half with a 4-0 run to increase the lead to six (10-4) at the break.

The Pride continued to roll in the third quarter, outscoring Western New England 6-1 in the frame to make it an 11-goal game (16-5) heading into the fourth.

The Golden Bears chipped away at their deficit over the final 15 minutes of play, using a 5-0 spurt that included two goals from Newall and two from Gamba to get back to within seven (17-10), but Springfield's cushion was too much to overcome as the Pride held on down the stretch.

Notes
• The two teams were even with 40 shots apiece, while Western New England held a 17-16 edge in the faceoff battle.
• The Pride have defeated the Golden Bears in three straight meetings, and Springfield owns an 18-11 advantage in the all-time series.

Up Next
Western New England (6-4) resumes CCC play on Thursday at Nichols, while Springfield (4-6) hosts Babson in NEWMAC action on Saturday.