SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior Jon Hayes (Waltham, MA) led a balanced scoring attack with three goals and an assist as No. 15 Western New England College rolled to an easy 14-4 victory over visiting Western Connecticut State University in a first round game of the 2008 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship Wednesday afternoon (May 7).

The Golden Bears (14-4) will visit No. 10 St. Lawrence (11-2) on Saturday (May 10) in a second round contest.

Hayes notched the opening goal just 2:21 into the game and WNEC took off from there in bolting to an 8-0 lead after the opening quarter and 10-0 advantage at halftime.

The Colonials, who were making their inaugural appearance in the national tournament, managed only 11 shots in the opening half.

Junior Scott Kukis (Sudbury, MA) and sophomore Tim Santye (Skillman, NJ) each added three goals while freshman Joe O'Keefe (Branford, CT) had a four-point game with a pair of goals and assists.

Junior Brody Savoie (Wilbraham, MA) contributed back-to-back goals in a 1:24 span that gave the home team a 5-0 lead at the 5:41 mark of the first period. He also assisted on Santye's final score that propelled WNEC to a 13-0 advantage with 9:02 left in the third quarter.

WestConn finally got on the board when senior Dennis Skarda (Danbury, CT) fired home a shot with 6:09 left in the third stanza. He finished with two goals while senior Ron Pac (Glastonbury, CT) and freshman Tom Begley (East Islip, NY) had the other goals. Junior goalie Kyle Wood (Hyde Park, NY) had 11 saves.

The Golden Bears' defense held sophomore Adam Lanehart (Redding, CT) (the Colonials' leading scorer with 56 goals and 65 points) to only one shot. He compiled five ground balls along with senior Mat Castelot (Branford, CT).

Western New England College senior Chris Body (Newtown, CT) compiled 10 saves in three quarters of action. Senior Travis Brown (Chapel, NC) won 10-of-15 face-offs and had five ground balls. Junior Matt McAnney (Wakefield, MA) had a game high eight ground balls while senior Jedd Brown (Kennebunk, ME) collected six.

Last year Western New England College advanced to the quarterfinals of the national tournament.

This is only the fifth season of men's lacrosse at Western Connecticut who finished its successful spring with a 13-7 record.