Coast Guard Explodes for Six Fourth Quarter Goals to Spoil Home Opener for Men's Lacrosse

Springfield, Mass. (February 26, 2023) - Jonathon Salsbury's 19 saves were not enough for the Western New England Men's Lacrosse team, as they fell to the United States Coast Guard Academy today. The Golden Bears were led by Jack Houlden with four points (three goals and an assist), but the Bears proved to be too much, winning 9-5, behind six fourth quarter goals. 

Records:

• Western New England: 1-1
• Coast Guard Academy: 2-0

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears came into their game against Coast Guard Academy looking for their second consecutive win against the Bears, having beat them 14-7 in the first ever matchup between the teams last season. The first goal of the contest came three and a half minutes into the game; after turnovers by both teams and two saves by WNE's Jonathon Salsbury, Gaige Kruger finally found the back of the net for the Bears, putting them up 1-0. That would remain the score for the next ten minutes, with both Salsbury and Bear's goalie, Dan Lucas, making a handful of saves each, before Jack Houlden would find Mike Bannon for the Golden Bears tying goal. The rest of the first quarter would remain scoreless, as Lucas would make a last second save on Houlden's attempt to put WNE up heading into the second quarter.

The second quarter would see only three goals, with WNE striking first, as their defense locked down the Bears and forced a shot clock violation, leading to a Houlden goal from Dylan Hanley, just over three minutes into the second. Over the next seven minutes, both teams would be trading possessions back and forth, firing numerous shots on goal. Lucas would make three saves in this timespan, while Salsbury would make seven saves, before Gaige Kruger would finally find the back of the net, tying the game up at two a piece. WNE responded shortly after, with Sean Farland winning a faceoff and Bannon finding an open Houlden for his second goal of the quarter, to put the Golden Bears up one. Both teams would go on to continue to get opportunities to score through the end of the first half, but neither team managed to convert and WNE went into halftime up 3-2.

The second half went just as the first, with both teams only combining for two goals. Following an opening faceoff win from Farland, teams would continue to trade possessions, with the Golden Bears continuing to pepper Lucas in net, but coming away empty handed. For the opening six minutes of the half, Lucas would make five saves, before Houlden found an opening past Lucas on an extra-man opportunity, putting the Golden Bears up by two goals. Coast Guard would follow with their own extra-man goal, coming from Ian Feely off of a pass from Ryan Flynn, six minutes later, to put the Bears within a goal. Both teams would continue to play solid defense to end the quarter, including TJ Dalicandro causing a turnover, which disrupted the Bears' plans, coming fresh off of their called timeout. Neither team would find the back of the net for the remainder of the quarter.

The final fifteen minutes of the game saw just as many goals as the previous three quarters combined. The Bears would start fast, with Ian Feely scoring his second goal, just thirty-two seconds into the final quarter, tying the game up at four a piece. The game would remain tied at four for the next six minutes, with both goaltenders making great saves on each end of the field, before Kruger would find the back of the net for the third time on the day, scoring the third man-up goal on the day, to put the Bears up one. Caleb Holdridge would find the back of the net for the Bears shortly after, making it four straight goals for Coast Guard. Less than thirty seconds later the Golden Bears responded, with Bannon notching his second goal on the day, from Hanley. Two minutes later with 4:12 left in the contest, a loose ball would fall at the feet of Ryan Hunter in front of the goal, where he would pick it up and score for the Bears, extending the lead back to two. After trying to trap the Bears and force a turnover with just under two minutes to go, Caleb Holdridge was able to evade defenders, for a man-down Bear goal. Feely found Kruger for the final goal of the game with just about a minute left to play, putting the Bears up 9-5, which would remain the final in the end.

Inside the Crease:

• Western New England falls to 1-1 in all time games against Coast Guard Academy and 1-1 in their 2023 campaign.

• Jack Houlden led the Golden Bears with four points (three goals and an assist), followed closely behind by Mike Bannon with three points (two goals and one assist) and Dylan Hanley with two assists.

• Jonathon Salsbury made 19 saves in goal, compared to Lucas' 16. 

• WNE collected 28 ground balls and split the faceoff with the Bears, going 9-18.

• Gaige Kruger led with four goals, followed by three points from Ian Feely (two goals and an assist), in a Bears' win.

 Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England travels to play MIT next Saturday, Saturday March 4 at 3:00 pm.

• Coast Guard will also be on the road, as they will be traveling to Salve Regina University this Wednesday, March 1 at 5:00 pm.