Golden Bears now tied for first in TCCC with New England College

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior goalkeeper Dan Ruscigno (Wappingers Falls, NY) recorded his second shutout of the season as the Western New England College men's soccer team beat Endicott 2-0 in a battle of two of the top teams in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Tuesday (Sept. 30) at Suprenant Field.

The Golden Bears improved their record to 7-1-2 and are now tied for first place in the conference with New England College (a 4-0 winner over Colby-Sawyer) with a 4-0-1 mark.

Junior forward Jason Sabia (Poughkeepsie, NY) netted his team leading seventh goal of the season with the assist from sophomore midfielder Alex Dos Santos (Ludlow, MA) in the 21st minute to give Western New England College an early 1-0 edge.

Eight minutes later senior forward Dan Hare (Staatsburg, NY) buried in WNEC's second goal through the middle as Sabia assisted on the play.

The Western New England College defense did an excellent job keeping the ball mostly in the Endicott (3-6-1, 3-2-1 TCCC) zone for the entire match. The Golden Bears outshot the Gulls 19-8.

Ruscigno finished with eight saves while Endicott freshman goalie Nicholas Allman (Newburyport, MA) had six.

Endicott slips to 3-6 overall and 3-2-1 in the conference.

Western New England College is tied for fifth with Norwich in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III New England poll that was released today.

The Golden Bears host Gordon (3-3-1, 1-1-1 TCCC) at 11:00 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 4).

--- Story by Amanda Bruno Western New England College athletic communications assistant