SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Western New England College men's soccer team opened its home season Saturday (Sept. 16) with a disappointing 3-2 overtime loss against Johnson & Wales University at Suprenant Field.

This was a re-match of last year's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament championship match won by the Wildcats 2-1 in overtime.

Western New England College had an 18-8 shot advantage in today's game, but couldn't pull away against their pesky rivals from Rhode Island.

After a scoreless first half, JWU scored goals in the 56th and 66th minutes, respectively, for a 2-0 lead.

The Golden Bears, who upset No. 6 Wheaton 1-0 in overtime on Tuesday, tied the contest on goals by senior Kofi Oteng (Worcester, MA) in the 68th minute and classmate Evan Heymann (Ipswich, MA) in the 77th minute. It was the first goal of the season for both players.

Junior Brian Sousa (Providence, RI) tallied the game winner six minutes into overtime. Senior goalkeeper Brenton Blanchard (Saline, MI) kept the visitors in the game with seven saves.

Western New England College falls to 4-1-1 and 1-1 in the conference after suffering its first loss of the season. Johnson & Wales evens its mark at 3-3 while remaining in the GNAC at 2-0.