Golden Bears Move to 4-0 in CCC Play, Outlast Wentworth 11-10

SPRINGFIELD, MA (April 8, 2023) - The Western New England Men's Lacrosse team continued CCC play today as they hosted the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards. Led by six points from Dylan Hanley (two goals and four assists) and five points from Jack Houlden (three goals and two assists), the Golden Bears beat the Leopards 11-10. 

Records:

• Western New England: 5-7 (4-0)
• Wentworth Institute of Technology: 5-7 (2-2)

How it Happened:

Wentworth would come out of the gates hot, as Drew Bouley scored just 40 seconds into the contest and Colin Ocampo found Logan Maklan two minutes later, to put WIT up a pair early. Less than a minute later, WNE would answer as Jack Houlden caused a Leopards turnover and then found Brian Madden for the Golden Bear's first goal of the game. Shortly after, Houlden would add another point, scoring a goal from Dylan Hanley, to tie the game at two.  A few minutes later, WNE would add another goal as Hanley found Jacob Roy. Chris Catuosco won the ensuing faceoff for WNE, that lead to a Hanley goal from Mike Bannon, to put WNE up 4-2. Wentworth would then score two goals a few minutes later as Leopard's goalkeeper, Ryan Kalberer, made a save that led to a goal by Liam Carroll, and Connor Charron would win the ensuing faceoff and take it himself and score, to knot the game at four a piece. WNE would score the final goal of the first quarter, as Gregory Perry would force a turnover on defense and then find TJ Dalicandro in transition, as Dalicandro would fire a shot past Kalberer to put WNE up a goal, with 1:40 left in the first.

The second quarter of play would only see three goals scored, with the first not coming until 9:45 left in the quarter. After both teams traded possessions through the start of the quarters, Kalberer would make a pair of saves and Golden Bear goalie, Carter Randall, would make a save in net, which would then lead to Michael Knapp finding Andrew Huta for his first career goal, to put the Golden Bears up a pair. Both teams would trade possessions over the next six and a half minutes, with Kalberer making three saves and Randall making another save that would lead to Hanley finding Houlden for another goal, on the ensuing Golden Bears possession. Wentworth scored their only goal of the second quarter with 1:25 remaining in the first half, as Ocampo netted a goal, to bring the Leopards to within a pair, as WNE led 7-5 heading into halftime. 

WNE lead off the third with a Houlden goal just 26 seconds into quarter. Zachary Mein would assist Bannon on another WNE goal shortly after, with 12:57 left in the quarter. Two minutes later, Anthony Gamba forced a turnover on defense, which lead to Houlden finding Hanley, to put WNE up 10-5. WIT answered 46 seconds later as Bouley scored for the Leopards. Neither team would score for nearly the next six minutes, until Bouley would net his third of the game, to bring the Leopards to within three, with 4:23 left. Neither team would score in the remainder of the third quarter, as Kalberer would make three saves and Randall would add another to round out the third.

Wentworth would net a pair of goals early in the final 15 minutes of play, as Ocampo and Bouley would each score to bring the Leopards to within one, with 13:22 left to play. Both teams would trade possessions over the next seven minutes, with Randall and Kalberer each making a pair of saves, before Hanley found Thomas Labbe to put WNE back up two. In the final five minutes of play, Kalberer would make two saves and Randall would make three more saves, before Erik Vogt would take advantage of an extra-man opportunity for the Leopards and net a goal, to bring Wentworth to within a goal, with only six seconds left in the contest. Sean Farland would win the ensuing faceoff possession for WNE on a faceoff violation, and evaded Leopard defenders to run the clock out as WNE would hold on to beat WIT 11-10. 

Inside The Crease:

• WNE improved to 4-0 in CCC play and 5-7 overall on the season.
• Dylan Hanley led WNE on offense with six points (two goals and four assists, closely followed by five points from Jack Houlden (three goals and two assists).
• Each team had 33 ground balls.
• WNE went 24-27 on clears in the contest.
• Wentworth was led by four points from Drew Bouley (four goals) and three points from Colin Ocampo (two goals and one assist).

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England will host Springfield College on Wednesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m. for their final non-conference game of the season.
• Wentworth will host Salve Regina University on Wednesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m.