Fourth Quarter Surge Sees Dutchmen End Golden Bear's Season for Second Consecutive Year

SCHENECTADY, NY (May 13, 2023) – After clinching a spot in the NCAA D3 Men's Lacrosse Tournament with their win over Endicott College last Saturday, the Western New England Men's Lacrosse team traveled to Union College. Looking to avenge their loss to the Dutchmen in last year's tournament, WNE was in command for nearly the entire game, but with six goals in the fourth quarter, Union took the lead and outlasted WNE, 15-13.

Records:

• Western New England: 12-9
• Union College: 12-6

How it Happened:

Western New England would come out of the gates hot, scoring three goals in the first three and a half minutes. Following a faceoff win from Chris Catuosco, Zachary Mein would score the first goal of the game, just 41 seconds into the contest. Two minutes later, Mein would add another point, this time assisting Dylan Hanley, to put WNE up 2-0. Mike Bannon would continue to increase his lead for the most career points in WNE Men's Lacrosse program history with a goal with 11:36 left in the first. After a Union timeout, the Dutchmen would score soon after, with Peter Kip netting a goal. Union would score again with 7:07 left in the first as Jake Mabardy would assist Archie McEvoy to bring the Dutchmen to within one. Two minutes later following a save from WNE goalkeeper, Carter Randall, Hanley would net his 50^th goal on the season, this time coming from Noah Rust. Union would answer with 1:27 left in the quarter as Emmett Lyne would score for the Dutchmen. Randall would make two saves in net over the remainder of the first, to keep WNE up 4-3, heading into the second quarter.

Union would strike first in the second, to knot the game up at four as Shane Smith would assist McEvoy. Three minutes later, Hanley would assist Mein, to put WNE back up one. 28 seconds later, following a Catuosco faceoff win, Thomas Labbe would score, coming from Ben Kolb. WNE's third goal in a row would come following a Randall save in net, leading to Jacob Roy scoring his first goal on the day. Union would answer soon after as Justin Greene would net a goal for the Dutchmen. Following a caused turnover by Michael Knapp on the defensive end, Hanley would set up Connor Callahan for his first career collegiate goal, with 3:42 remaining in the first half. Kip would answer for the Dutchmen shortly after, cutting WNE's lead back to two. Catuosco would win the ensuing faceoff, leading to Mein scoring his third goal on the day. Greene would score the final goal in the first half, with 48 seconds left, as WNE would be ahead 9-7 going into halftime.

The third quarter would be the lowest scoring quarter on the day, with only five goals being scored in the 15 minutes. Pip would assist Lyne for the Dutchmen for the first goal in the second half, just 48 seconds into it. After Randall would make four saves in net over the next four minutes, Roy would net his second goal of the game, to put WNE up 10-8. Hanley continued to add to his program record for most single season points, as he netted two unassisted goals over the next three minutes, bringing his season total to 122 points (52 goals and 70 assists). Zach Davis would score the last goal of the third quarter, with 5:24 left, for the Dutchmen's ninth goal on the day. Randall would make a save over the remaining 5:24 of the quarter, as WNE was ahead 12-9 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

Union would eventually end up taking control in the fourth quarter as they would outscore WNE 6-1. just over a minute and a half into the final quarter, McEvoy would assist Davis for the Dutchmen, pulling Union to within two goals. Kip would score his third of the day a few minutes later, cutting WNE's lead down to one. Roy would answer Kip's third goal, with his own third goal in the contest, shortly after, coming from Ben Kolb. Just under three minutes later, Green would score for the Dutchmen, bringing Union within one, with 6:11 left. Mabardy would score the tying goal with 4:48 left in the contest for the Dutchmen, for their fourth in the quarter. Lyne would assist Mabardy for another goal just over a minute later, giving Union their first lead of the day, with 3:26 left to play. WNE would try to mount a comeback, just as the Dutchmen had, but they would be unable to as Union would score their fourth goal in a row, this time coming from Davis, with 1:14 left to play. Davis' goal would be the nail in the coffin for WNE, as they were unable to score in the final minute and fall to Union for the second consecutive year in the tournament, this time with a score of 15-13.

Inside The Crease:

• WNE ends the season with a 12-9 season, after repeating as CCC Champions.
• WNE was led on attack by Hanley with six points (four goals and two assists), Mein with four points (three goals and an assist) and three goals from Roy. 
• WNE finished with 33 ground balls, with Catuosco and Jack Gara each totaling seven each.
• Randall had 13 saves on the day, with seven coming in the third. 
• Union was led by four points from Peter Kip (three goals and an assist).

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