MILTON, Mass. - Western New England College dropped its first game of the season at undefeated Curry 19-10 Saturday night (Sept. 23) in the New England Football Conference (NEFC) Boyd Division opener for both squads before 1,899 fans at Walter Katz Field.

The Golden Bears, who opened their season with two wins for the first time since 1993, are now 2-0 while the Colonels improve their mark to 4-0.

WNEC and Curry battled to a scoreless tie for most of the first quarter before the hosts took a 7-0 lead on a nine-yard pass from Ryan Van De Giesen to Felix Borukhov with 1:16 left in the period.

The Golden Bears recorded a safety at the 11:57 mark of the second quarter when senior Jarrad Jordan couldn't haul in a pitch from Van De Giesen, falling on the fumble in his own end zone.

Curry, three-time defending NEFC champions, added touchdowns following a pair of WNEC turnovers in both the third and fourth quarters on a two-yard run by Jordan (21 carries, 120 yard rushing) and one-yard score by Steve DiFabio with 13:41 remaining in the game.

Western New England College finally got on the board when junior backup quarterback Pat Murphy (Kensington, NH) tossed a 10-yard scoring pass to junior wide receiver Kevin Miculcy (Greenwich, CT) with 1:14 left in the contest.

It was the first touchdown allowed by the Curry defense in more than 12 quarters dating back to a third quarter score by Worcester State in the season opener.

Murphy was 14-for-28 for 196 yards with two interceptions in his first extended action of the season. He replaced senior quarterback Jon Tallerico (Port Chester, NY) who suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter and didn't return to the game.

Despite the loss, there were several outstanding individual performances by the Golden Bears.

Senior cornerback Jay Rooney (El Segundo, CA) picked-off two passes to establish a school record for career interceptions (13).

Sophomore running back Jordan Capitanio (Torrington, CT) gained 37 yards on seven carries, but went over the 1,000-yard mark (1,028) in career rushing becoming the 10th player in school history to reach the plateau.

Miculcy (7 catches, 111 yards) became only the fourth player in school history with 100 receptions (101). He leads the NEFC in receptions (23), yards (292), and touchdowns (4).

Also for Western New England College, freshman wide receiver Rob Chiaccio (Groton, CT) had his best game of the young season with seven catches for 43 yards.

Senior free safety Jim Kantany (East Longmeadow, MA) collected a game-high 11 tackles (6 solo) while senior strong safety Brent Dube (Lewiston, ME) and junior rover Eli Gardner (Milford, NJ) each contributed seven stops.

Western New England College totaled 282 yards in total offense, with 262 coming through the air. Curry totaled 345 yards with 253 coming on the ground. The Colonels' defense held the Golden Bears to only 20 yards rushing and forced five turnovers, which led to the two scores in the second half.

WNEC returns to action next Saturday (Sept. 30) at Plymouth State in NEFC Boyd Division action.