Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Senior running back Kevin Cook became Western New England's all-time leading rusher, and classmate Tyler Ward scored the go-ahead touchdown with 94 seconds left, to lift the Golden Bears to a thrilling 34-31 New England Football Conference victory over visiting Salve Regina at Golden Bear Stadium on Saturday. With their sixth-straight victory (including the 2013 finale), the top-ranked Golden Bears improve to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in the NEFC. The Seahawks, who were picked to finish second in the NEFC, fall to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Cook rushed for 119 yards on 18 carries to give him 3,444 for his career, eclipsing Marvin Langley's all-time record of 3,401 set from 1998 to 2001. And Cook set the new WNE standard in dramatic fashion by scampering down the right sideline in front of his team's bench for a 64-yard touchdown run that gave the Golden Bears a 27-24 lead at 9:56 of the third quarter to respond to a Salve TD two possessions later.

Ward passed for 167 yards on 10 completions, including a 64-yard scoring throw to senior Andrew Walz to help put the Golden Bears back on top 13-9 with 11 minutes and 41 seconds left in the first half. The signal caller also ran the ball 11 times for 53 yards, but none more important than his game-winning touchdown on a designed pass play that he turned into a 16-yard scramble into the end zone.

Dan Buonocore carried 36 times for 231 yards and he also caught seven passes for 74 yards to pace the Seahawks, who outgained WNE 535 to 404 and had a 35:01 to 24:59 advantage in time of possession. Quarterback Steven Wilken passed for 241 yards on 24 completions in 48 attempts and three touchdowns; he was intercepted twice.

Defensively, junior Dean Soucie led WNE with a game-best 12 tackles, followed by senior Zachary Fleming and sophomore Robert Sihlanick (1 forced fumble, 1 recovery) with 10 apiece. In addition, senior Joshua Scarry had eight tackles (4 solo) along with a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a pass breakup.

The Golden Bears' game-winning drive began with the WNE defense earning a takeaway. Leading 31-27 with the ball at his 25-yard line, Salve's Wilkin fumbled when freshman lineman Sam Edouard (6 total stops) tackled him at the 32 and senior linebacker Kyle Jones (6 tackles) recovered to set up the offense in excellent field position with 2:48 left. Ward connected with senior wideout Alejandro Colon for 11 yards to the SRU 16 to set up Ward's heroics. Sophomore Kevin Patterson's extra point punctuated the only TD of the decisive final stanza.

Wilken and Co. still had one final possession to try to tie the game with a field and send it into overtime, or go for a winning TD of their own. Starting at their own 20 with 1:34 to go, the Seahawks drove down to the WNE 38 on two receptions by Buonocore of 17 and 7 yards and another 18-yard catch by Matthew Traynor. On 4th-and-3, Edouard broke up a pass at the line to seal the victory for the Golden Bears.

Joshua Morales paced the Salve defense with 11 tackles (4 solo), including one for loss, Danny Ives had 10 and Erik Klein had seven including 1-1/2 sacks for 9 yards.

Salve took a 31-27 lead at the 1:48 mark in the third quarter on an Alex Hulme 9-yard touchdown reception from Wilken to cap a 12-play, 80-yard drive in 3:41 of possession.

The second half began with WNE holding a 20-17 edge before Wilken found Traynor for a 12-yard strike into the end zone, putting the Seahawks up 24-20 at 13:26 of the third quarter.

Salve Regina took advantage of a muffed punt return and got the ball on the turnover at the WNE 40. Four plays later, Michael Mahoney caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Wilken. A two-point conversion from Wilken to Buonocore got the Seahawks within 20-17 at 1:09 left in the first half.

A 7-yard TD run by sophomore Nick Connell increased WNE's lead to 20-9 with 4:34 remaining in the second quarter, capitalizing on a forced fumble and recovery by Sihlanick of Wilken. Ward engineered a six-play scoring drive that covered 62 yards in just 1:23.

The see-saw game, which featured six lead changes, began when Buonocore scored on a 3-yard run to put the Seahawks ahead for the first time at 9-6 with 12:27 to go in the first half, capping a 13-play, 59-yard drive in 5:22 that started at the SRU 41. The good starting field position occurred because Klein sacked Ward in the end zone for a safety to get Salve on the scoreboard at 6-2, and then Patterson had a free kick that Hulme returned to his 41.

Cook started the scoring in the game with a touchdown run from 3 yards out at the 5:54 mark in the first stanza. Sophomore Obi Etuka (5 tackles, 4 solo) had the first of his two interceptions of the afternoon, returning this one 58 yards to the SRU 18, setting the WNE defensive tone that turned three takeaways into 20 points for the offense.

Western New England steps out of conference play in its next outing at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. for a 4 p.m. Saturday kickoff.