Box Score KEENE, N.H.--Senior All-American Adam Knapton led the Western New England University men's lacrosse team with four goals on Tuesday, but Tyler McKelvie scored one of his game-high five markers early in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead goal as host Keene State College held off the visiting Golden Bears, 12-10, in the season opener for both teams at the Owl Athletic Complex.

Freshman Keegan Dudeck netted two goals and an assist in his Golden Bears debut. Senior Owen Caruso added a goal and an assist. Senior defender Jack Liacos had four ground balls to lead WNE over Keene for the game, 18 to 11.

Trailing 8-3 early in the third quarter, Western New England got a man-up goal from Dudeck that sparked a string of six unanswered to give the Golden Bears their only lead at 9-8 heading into the fourth. Dudeck potted another goal and Knapton found the back of the cage three times during the run that covered 7 minutes and 48 seconds on the clock.

Ryan Hart opened the scoring, unassisted, in the fourth to start a 3-0 Keene run for an 11-9 lead with 6:45 remaining. McKelvie broke a 9-9 tie at the 7:29 mark with his final goal of the afternoon.

Knapton's goal at 4:03 on a pass from Dudeck got WNE within 11-10, but Hart added another unassisted goal with 34 seconds left to seal the two-goal victory.

Alex Sharp made 12 saves in the KSC net, while WNE junior counterpart Brandon Body made four stops.

 Bryan Rotatori, who scored two goals and an assist for KSC, led all players with six ground balls.

In addition to ground balls, WNE enjoyed several statistical leads including shots (35-23), shots on goal (22-16), caused turnovers (3-2), face-off wins (10-7) and turnovers (5-11). But Keene took advantage of costly WNE penalties and scored four goals in eight man-up situations.

Western New England travels to defending national champion Stevenson University on March 1, with the game slated to begin at 7 p.m. On the same day, the Owls will be back in action heading to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for 1 p.m. start.

Notes: Western New England is ranked 11th in the first U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) NCAA Division III top-20 coaches' poll...the Golden Bears are predicted to win their third consecutive Commonwealth Coast Conference championship in the coaches' preseason poll while Keene State is picked to finish second in the Little East Conference....this was the first time KSC had ever beaten Western New England, in the first meeting between the teams since the 2007 season.