Box Score Boxscore

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The Western New England men's hockey team opened the 2013-14 season by doubling up Westfield State, 4-2, in the Falcon Cup on Friday at the 8,000-seat MassMutual Center here downtown. The non-conference win snapped a four-game losing streak to the Owls dating to a WNE 6-5 overtime triumph at home on Nov. 7, 2010.

Junior forward Matt Dore scored two goals to pace the Golden Bears, who outshot the Owls 47 to 38. Leading 2-1 late in the third period, WNE got an insurance goal from Dore with 3 minutes and 32 seconds remaining when he gathered in a rebound of a missed shot by senior captain Brian Prost and calmly deposited the puck in the back of the net from just above the face-off circles. Dore iced the contest with an empty-net, power-play goal with 1:13 left.

"We played hard tonight and came together as a team for a great first win to start the season," WNE coach Greg Heffernan said. "We will need to duplicate this effort and execution every day in order to continue to have success."

Western New England spotted Westfield a 1-0 advantage in the first period 4:25 after the opening face-off on a goal by P.J. McCadden.

But the Golden Bears dominated the second period, outshooting Westfield, 17-6, and scoring two goals to take a 2-1 lead. Senior defenseman Cam Napolitan scored the game-tying goal with 6:35 remaining on an assist from junior Joe Budnick, who registered his first point in a WNE uniform after playing the previous two seasons at NCAA Division I UConn. Sophomore Chris Lembo gave WNE a 2-1 advantage with a power play goal with 3:54 to go. Lembo let go a tough shot from an extreme angle on the left side as the puck glanced off the stick of the goalie and over his shoulder into the net.

Golden Bear senior goalie Eric Sorenson had 36 saves while his Owl counterpart Ian Perrier stopped 43 shots.

Prost finished with two assists for the Golden Bears, who return to the ice on Tuesday (5:45 p.m.) when they travel to Auburn to square off against another Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent Worcester State at Horgan Rink.

(Editor's note: Westfield State Athletics contributed to this game recap.)