Strong Second Half Powers Golden Bears to 13-12 Victory over Colorado College

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 19, 2019) - The Western New England University men's lacrosse team defeated Colorado College 13-12 in a non-conference battle at Golden Bear Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Top Performers
Sophomore attackman Jared Newall (Stratford, Conn.) and junior midfielder John Shahpazian both pumped in three goals on the day. Freshman midfielder Noah Rust (Windham, N.H.) and senior attackman Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) each had two goals and a helper. Freshman attackman Mike Bannon (Edmond, Okla.) and senior attackman Tim Breau (Ridgewood, N.J.) each had two points while three other Golden Bears had at least one assist.

Senior faceoff specialist Hunter Cocks (Walden, N.Y.) collected 21-of-29 faceoffs and had 14 groundballs, while also scoring the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter. 

For the Tigers, senior midfielder Tyler Borko had a five-point performance (3 G, 2 A) while junior midfielder Max Rieser had four goals. Junior attack Cody Petau and freshman attack Eliot Nelson each had two points.

Game Review
Western New England opened up the game with a 2-0 lead, with Ward factoring into both goals. Ward found the net off a feed from senior Joe Holleran, then set up Shapazian in front of the cage to make it 2-0.

The Tigers responded with three straight goals to regain the lead highlighted by Rieser getting separation and connecting from 20 yards out as the first period ended.

In the second period, the Tigers and Golden Bears traded blows with Newall registering two goals in the period, one unassisted and the other coming off a feed from Bannon. Colorado College put together back-to-back goals to take the lead at 6-4 heading into the half.

The Golden Bears opened up the third period assertively scoring the first three goals. At 11:50, Newall bumped outside on a dodge and rocketed a shot past the keeper to give Western New England the lead at 7-6. Shortly after, Borko spun to the middle and scored to even the score at 7. After a Breau goal, the Golden Bears would go up 8-7 just to have Colorado College score back-to-back goals. With a minute a remaining in the quarter, Rust would cut to the crease and capitalize on a feed from Breau to even the score once again at 9-9.

In the fourth quarter, Western New England outscored the Tigers 4-3 and scored three-straight over a three-minute span.

At 6:43, Eliot Nelson kicked out to Borko who collected his third goal of the game. Off the ensuing faceoff, Cocks corralled the groundball and scored in a man down situation, giving the Golden Bears a 13-12 lead.

That goal by Cocks would prove to be the game-winner as the Golden Bear defense, led by junior goalie Sean McCusker (Northport, N.Y.) kept the Tigers at bay. McCusker finished with nine saves.

Notes
• Western New England outshot Colorado College, 46-41.
• The Golden Bears won the groundball battle, 38-28.

Up Next
Western New England (11-5, 7-0 CCC) will return to CCC play on Wedensday in a regular-season finale matchup against Salve Regina (6-5, 3-3 CCC) at 7 pm on Wednesday. Colorado College will stay on the east coast as they travel to Connecticut College Sunday at 12 pm.