SPRINGFIELD, Mass. â€" Sophomore quarterback Pat Murphy (Kensington, NH) completed 18-of-30 passes for 114 yards and his first two collegiate touchdown passes, and junior cornerback Brent Dube (Lewiston, ME) had two interceptions as Western New England won its first game of the season with a 29-17 victory over mistake-prone Salve Regina University in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) Boyd Division contest Saturday before an enthusiastic crowd of 2,350 at Golden Bear Stadium.

It was the first win for rookie coach Keith Emery who saw his team force five turnovers on Homecoming and Family & Friends Day. The Golden Bears are now 1-3 and 1-1 in the division; the Seahawks fall to 1-2 and 1-1.

The teams traded field goals on the first two possessions of the game when Salve Regina junior Andrew Monaco (Uxbridge, MA) connected on a 20-yarder that was followed almost four minutes later by a 32-yard kick by Western New England College freshman James Farrell (East Longmeadow, MA). It was the first collegiate field goal by Farrell on his first attempt.

Junior quarterback Robert Higle (Sleepy Hollow, NY) (20-of-44, 284 yards) gave the visitors a 10-3 advantage when he fired an 18-yard scoring pass to junior fullback Carl Fyre (Portland, ME) at the 9:30 mark of the second quarter.

Murphy tossed both his touchdown passes in a 1:31 span to give the Golden Bears a 16-10 lead at half-time.

He connected with sophomore wide receiver Kevin Miculcy (Greenwich, CT) on a 13-yard play at 3:48 that was set-up by a nifty 30-yard punt return by junior Jarod Johnson (Ticonderoga, NY). The Seahawks then fumbled the ensuing kickoff and four plays later Murphy lofted a three-yard score to junior running back Mike Fiscella (Port Chester, NY) with 2:17 left before intermission.

Western New England College took advantage of another Salve Regina turnover when freshman Jordan Capitano (Torrington, CT) blocked a punt and junior defensive end Frank Miethe (Chelmsford, MA) fell on the ball in the end zone for a 22-10 lead with 9:53 remaining in the third period.

Salve Regina then moved from its own 34 to the WNEC 20, but Dube intercepted a Higle pass at the one and returned it 40 yards to thwart the scoring attempt. Dube then picked off his second pass on the Seahawks' next possession 1:09 into the fourth quarter.

After forcing WNEC to punt, Salve Regina went 90 yards on eight plays to pull within 22-17 following a three-yard run by junior running back Brad Russo (Lincoln, RI) with 9:37 left in the game.

Western New England College answered with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that ended when Capitanio ran 14 yards for an insurance touchdown with 5:24 remaining. He finished with a team high 50 yards on 10 carries, all in the second half.

Senior cornerback Jay Rooney (El Segundo, CA) then had the team’s final interception of the afternoon at 4:42 and the Golden Bears took control after that.

Salve Regina out-gained Western New England College by a 415 to 277 margin. Frye finished with 73 yards rushing on 21 carries while junior wide receiver Louis Ravanis (South Easton, MA) had six catches for 74 yards.

Miculcy had a big afternoon for the Golden Bears finishing with 11 receptions (one shy of the school record) for 87 yards.