Hanley Sets Single Season Points Record as Golden Bears Defeat Nor'easters, Advance to CCC Semifinals

SPRINGFIELD, MA (April 29, 2023) – The Western New England Men's Lacrosse team hosted the University of New England Nor'easters today in the Quarterfinals of the CCC Playoffs. Led by Dylan Hanley with nine points (three goals and six assists), while setting the WNE Men's Lacrosse program record for points in a season, the Golden Bears would beat UNE, 24-9.

Records:

• Western New England: 10-8 (7-1)
• University of New England: 8-10 (4-4)

How it Happened:

UNE would start the day off with the first goal, coming at the 12:11 mark of the first quarter as Sam McGregor would score. WNE would answer with a pair of goals over the next three minutes as Ben Kolb would assist Jack Houlden on the first and Zachary Mein would assist Mike Bannon on the second, putting the Golden Bears up one. 13 seconds later, Andrew Lawrence would assist Collin Jackson for UNE, to knot the game up at two to two. WNE would go on to score three more goals over the next two minutes as Dylan Hanley would score the first, then he would assist Houlden for his second goal on the day, and Brian Madden would score the third, putting WNE back up, 5-2. McGregor would score two more times in the quarter, with the first coming from Jordan White, to bring UNE to back to within one, with 3:27 left in the quarter. WNE would answer with two more goals of their own, to round out the quarter as Zachary Mein would score off the ensuing faceoff off won by Chris Catuosco, and Ben Kolb would score with 1:25 left in the first. WNE would stay in the lead, 7-4, heading into the seconds quarter as Golden Bear goalkeeper, Carter Randall, would make a save in net in the final seconds of the first.

The second quarter would be WNE's highest scoring quarter on the season, as they would score 10 goals in the 15 minutes of play, while only allowing one goal in the quarter. WNE would score the first three goals of the quarter, with the first being a man-up goal from Houlden coming from Hanley. Hanley would add two more assists on the next two WNE goals as he would assist Houlden again, and then Madden for his second goal of the day. Hanley's assist for Madden's goal would set the record for the most points in a season for the WNE men's lacrosse program, with 95 points on the season. UNE would look to make a run of their own, just like WNE's, as Shea Fogarty would score a map-up goal with 8:04 left in the second. WNE would not allow that to happen as they would score seven more goals in the remaining eight minutes of the quarter. Hanley would add another assist, finding Noah Rust for the goal, before Catuosco would win the ensuing faceoff and Ben Kolb would assist Houlden for another WNE goal. The final goals of the quarter would come from Madden, a pair from Hanley, one from James Wrynn and the last from Tim Kolb, as Rust, Ben Kolb, Houlden and Hanley would each pick up an assist across the goals scored. WNE would head into the half up 17-5 over the Nor'easters.

In the third, there would be only five goals scored, with UNE outscoring WNE 3-2. Following two saves from UNE goalkeeper, Alex Thoms, Cole Ventimiglia would assist Collin Jackson 5 minutes and 15 seconds for the half, for UNE's sixth goal on the day. WNE would answer with their first of the quarter 48 seconds later, as Kevin Morina would assist Thomas Labbe for the Golden Bears. WNE's only other goal of the quarter would come two minutes later, as Griffin LaRochelle would put WNE up 19-6. Following a save from Randall, WNE would switch goalies, sending Jonathon Salsbury to the cage. Salsbury would make a save before McGregor would sneak a shot past him. Two minutes later, UNE would score again as Lawrence would add another point, this time scoring a goal for the Nor'easters. Neither team scored in the remaining 1:44 of the quarter, as WNE would lead 19-8 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

UNE would score the first goal of the fourth, a man-up goal, as the penalty was expiring, scored by Gavin Tanis, coming from Fogarty, two minutes into the quarter. With 7:47 left in the quarter, Bryce Busa would score his first career collegiate goal, putting WNE up 20-9. WNE would go on to score four more goals over the remainder of the quarter, with the first scored by Collin Hughes, assisted by Kevin Morina, directly after a Sean Farland faceoff win. 49 seconds later, after a Brock Busa faceoff win, Joseph Contino would assist Jack Brunt for the seconds out of the four. After a Rocco DeSimone faceoff win, Morina would pick up another point as he would assist LaRochelle for the third goal, and LaRochelle would score another goal for the fourth, the final goal of the contest with two minutes left. Thoms would make one more save in net over the final two minutes, to keep the score WNE 24, UNE 9.

Inside The Crease:

• WNE improves to 10-8 on the season, and will advance to the CCC semifinals
• Hanley lead to the team on the attack, finishing with nine points (three goals and six assists).
• WNE went 14-15 on clears on the day.
• Led by Catuosco going 16-20, WNE went 27 for 36 on faceoffs.
• WNE had 48 ground balls, compared to 27 from UNE.
• UNE was led on offense by four goals on five shots from Sam McGregor.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England will host Salve Regina University on Wednesday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. for the semifinal round of the CCC Playoffs.