SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It was a great way to end the regular season.

Senior attacker Mike Kelly (Cheshire, CT) scored five goals with an assist and senior goalie Chris Body (Newtown, CT) made 15 saves as the No. 16 Western New England College men's lacrosse team defeated host Springfield College 12-4 Friday (Apr. 25) in a non-league match-up at Stagg Field.

This was the final game of the regular season for the Golden Bears who have a 10-4 record entering a home playoff game as the second seed in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Tournament that begins Tuesday (Apr. 29).

WNEC and Springfield formerly battled one another as Pilgrim League rivals and tonight's game attracted another large crowd (700) to watch the two city rivals in action.

Kelly gave the Golden Bears an early 1-0 lead just 4:01 into the game before sophomore midfielder Joe Macchi (Mahopac, NY) tied the score at the 7:58 mark.

Senior attacker Bryan Cofrin (Londonderry, NH) and junior attacker Brody Savoie (Wilbraham, MA) tallied back-to-back goal for a 3-1 advantage with 3:53 left in the opening quarter. 

Western New England College led 3-2 after the opening period before making some clutch shots in the second stanza. Kelly tallied a man-up goal with 12:13 remaining before intermission and junior defensman Jared Pabis (Wilbraham, MA) notched a man-down score just 1:01 later that gave the visitors a 6-3 lead.

Junior midfielder Jake Jones (Amherst, MA) got Springfield back within two with 3:36 remaining in the half before Kelly delivered a crucial goal with just two seconds left as WNEC took a 7-4 lead into the locker room.

Kelly then started the second half with a goal 2:53 into the third period and the Golden Bears' defense took over holding the Pride scoreless the entire half.

Senior midfielder Joe Hayes (Waltham, MA) contributed a goal and assist while Savoie also contributed an assist for a two-point night.

Senior midfielder Travis Brown (Chapel Hill, NC) netted a goal and won 12-of-19 face-offs. Junior defender Matt McAnney (Wakefield, MA) picked-up nine ground balls while Pabis had four.

Springfield out-shot WNEC by a 34-26 margin. Junior goalie Tom Albano (Ridgewood, NJ) stopped nine shots for the Pride who fall to 7-6.