Golden Bears Earn 17-9 Road Victory over Gordon

Ward & Shahpazian score four goals each as WNE improves to 5-0 in CCC play

WENHAM, Mass. (April 10, 2019) – The Western New England University men's lacrosse team opened up a 12-4 halftime advantage en route to a 17-9 victory over Gordon College on Wednesday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Brigham Athletic Complex.

Top Performers
Senior attackman Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) continued his offensive surge with a game-high seven points (four goals, three assists). Junior John Shahpazian (New Providence, N.J.) also scored four goals, while sophomore Jared Newall (Stratford, Conn.) and freshmen Mike Bannon (Edmond, Okla.) and Noah Rust (Windham, N.H.) all contributed three-point efforts.

Gordon senior midfielder Nick Tozier (Winston Salem, N.C.) produced a team-high five points (three goals, two assists) for the Fighting Scots, while senior attackman Austin Early (Palmyra, Va.) registered a hat trick.

Game Review
Western New England set the tone for the contest with a dominant first quarter, as the Golden Bears outscored the Fighting Scots 6-2 in the opening frame.

Bannon got it started just 43 seconds into the contest, and Shahpazian followed with back-to-back goals before junior Brendan Lyons (Syosset, N.Y.) scored on a feed from Ward at the 8:20 mark. Ward then increased Western New England's lead to 5-0 with his first of the night midway through the period.

Gordon broke through with a pair of goals late in the quarter, before Shahpazian completed his hat trick with 36 seconds on the clock to make it 6-2.

The Golden Bears carried their momentum into the second quarter, again outscoring Gordon 6-2 to open up a 12-4 advantage at halftime. Ward scored three goals in the period, while Newall, Bannon and Rust also found the back of the net.

Western New England stretched its lead to a game-high ten goals (14-4) as Shahpazian and senior Joe Holleran (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored at 10:48 and 7:31 of the third quarter, respectively.

Gordon was able to cut its deficit to eight (14-6) with goals from Early and Tozier late in the third, but the Fighting Scots would get no closer as Western New England went on to win by the same margin.

Notes
• Western New England won the faceoff battle 21-8, with senior Hunter Cocks (Walden, N.Y.) going 10-for-13 and sophomore Jack Seiter (Ridgewood, N.J.) winning 11-of-16.
• Ward has compiled 19 of his team-high 50 points over the last three games.

Up Next
Western New England (8-4, 5-0 CCC) returns home to host Endicott on Saturday, while Gordon (3-8, 0-6 CCC) travels to Lasell for a non-conference contest.