Golden Bears Comeback Falls Short to Nazareth in Overtime

TAMPA, Fla. (March 18, 2023) - The Western New England Men's Lacrosse team took on the Nazareth College Golden Flyers in their last spring break game at the University of Tampa, in Tampa, Florida. The Golden Bears would come back after being down five goals in the fourth quarter, to force overtime, but would fall to the Golden Flyers 12-11 in overtime.

Records:

• Western New England: 1-5
• Nazareth College: 2-6

How it Happened:

Western New England was looking to end the spring break trip strong with a win over Nazareth College, and came out strong scoring the first two goals of the game, coming from Jacob Roy, just over three minutes into the game and Zachary Mein scoring the second, 40 seconds later. Golden Bears goalie, Jonathon Salsbury, and the Golden Flyers goalie, Eric Almquist, would combine for a few saves, over the next 7 minutes and 30 seconds as the teams traded possessions, before Quinn Conroy would find Louis Cogliandro for Nazareth's first goal of the game, on an extra man opportunity. Just over a minute later, the Golden Flyers knotted the game at two, as Andy Hamel found the back of the net after a pass from Matthew Farrington. A minute later, Nazareth would take their first lead of the game, as Conroy would put the Golden Flyers up one, with 1:15 remaining in the first quarter, coming from Farrington. Nazareth looked to add to their lead with seconds left to play, but Salsbury would not let it happen, making a big save with seconds left to end the first quarter.

The second quarter of play would be the quarter with the least total goals scored on the day, with the teams only combining for three goals. Just over two minutes into the quarter, Mein would pick up his second point on the day, as he would find Mike Bannon, who would find the back of the net, tying the game at three a piece. Both teams would trade possessions over the next five minutes, before WNE was presented with an extra-man opportunity. The Golden Bears would call a timeout to draw up a play, where shortly later, Tim Kolb would net his first goal of the season, coming from Roy, to put the Golden Bears up one, halfway through the quarter. Nazareth would score three minutes later, to tie the game at four, as Conroy would score his second goal on the day.​ The remaining four and a half minutes of the quarter would see a lot of pressure applied by WNE, as they kept causing Nazareth turnovers and kept peppering Almquist with shots in net. Almquist was able to make four saves through the remainder of the quarter, to keep the game tied going into the half.

The third quarter was all Nazareth as they would go on to outscore WNE 6-1 over the 15 minutes of play. After an opening faceoff win by Chris Catuosco led to an offensive possession for WNE, Almquist made a save on Thomas Labbe, eventually resulting in a William O'Neill goal, coming from Cogliandro, to put the Golden Flyers up one. Over the following two and a half minutes, Nazareth would score two more goals, coming from Jesse Woodill and Quinn McKercher. WNE answered soon after, taking advantage of another extra-man opportunity, where Tim Kolb would tally his second point of the game, finding Dylan Hanley, to bring WNE within two. Nazareth would go on to score three goals over the following four minutes, coming from Cogliandro, McKercher, and Greg Bilek, to put the Golden Flyers up 10-5. WNE would try to cut their deficit before the quarter ended, but Almquist would go on to make four saves as the Golden Bears would keep firing shots on net to end the third quarter.

The final 15 minutes of regulation would be a completely different story for the Golden Bears, than the previous 15 minutes. Jack Houlden opened the fourth quarter with a goal from Noah Rust, 50 seconds into the quarter. Although Nazareth answered soon after with Cogliandro scoring for the Golden Flyers, to put them back up five. Two minutes later, Nicholas Campagnone would score, coming from Bannon, to put WNE back within four. Western New England would score again after Salsbury would hold strong in net, making two saves, before Rust would find Houlden for a goal, both adding their second points on the day, to cut the lead to three. A little over a minute later, Bannon would find a loose ground ball right in front of the net and score past the diving Almquist, to put the Golden Bears within a pair of goals. Nazareth would win the following faceoff and try to stop WNE's momentum by increasing their lead, but Salsbury would make a pair of saves before WNE would be able to retain possession and make a clear with five minutes to play. Down two, WNE kept firing shots to try to bring them to within one; Almquist made one save and had a shot hit the post before WNE would call a timeout with 3:13 left to play, to draw up a play to try to bring them within one. 30 seconds after the timeout, Hanley would pick up the ground ball following a wide shot and made a move towards the net, shooting past Almquist, for his second goal on the day, to cut Nazareth's lead to one. Sean Farland would win the ensuing faceoff, which led to Mein scoring the tying goal, 50 seconds later, with 1:54 remaining in the fourth. Farland would again win the following faceoff and the Golden Bears would call a timeout with a minute and a half left, to draw up a play, to hopefully put them up on Nazareth with little time left to play. Following the timeout, inside the final 30 seconds of regulation, Almquist would face three shots, saving the first two and seeing the third go wide, as the game was tied at 11 and heading to overtime.

Farland would win the faceoff to start overtime, leading to a WNE offensive possession. Campagnone would look to find the back of the net past Almquist, but he would make a save, as Nazareth took the ball the other way. Salisburywould make two big saves in net over the next two possessions for Nazareth, but their pressure on the clears were too much as they were able to cause a turnover, where Bilek would eventually end up with the ball, coming from Farrington, and find an opening past Salsbury, winning it for the Golden Flyers with 10 seconds left in overtime, 12-11.

Inside The Crease:

• Western New England falls to 1-5 on their 2023 campaign, after falling to Nazareth for the second consecutive season.

• Two Golden Bears led the way with three points, Mike Bannon (two goals and one assist) and Zachary Mein (two goals and one assist).

• WNE ended with 48 ground balls, compared to Nazareth's 39.

• Western New England capitalized on two of three extra-man opportunities.

• The Golden Flyers were lead by Matthew Farrington with five points (five assists) and closely followed with four points coming from Louis Cogliandro (three goals and one assist).

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will be on the road to Boston University on Wednesday, March 22, where they will face the St. Lawrence University Saints at 7:00 p.m.

• Nazareth College's next match-up is also on the road on Wednesday, March 22nd, against the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles with a 4:00 p.m. start time.