Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The Western New England University football team stormed back with two touchdowns in the final 5 minutes and 30 seconds to edge city rival and host Springfield College, 38-34, in the inaugural Pynchon SAW Game at Stagg Field on Friday evening. The Golden Bears and Pride were both playing their season openers, and the all-time series is now even at one win apiece.

A Max Nacewicz 40-yard fumble touchdown return and 2-point conversion gave the Pride a seemingly comfortable 34-23 lead with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter. But the Golden Bears came right back on the ensuing drive, capped by a Tyler Ward 26-yard TD pass over the middle to Tucker Schumitz that covered 64 yards on four plays in just 44 seconds. After the successful 2-point try to pull within 34-31 with 5:30 left, a resilient Western New England squad got the ball right back by recovering an onside kick at its 45-yard line. WNE marched quickly down the field, capping an 11-play drive with a 2-yard TD plunge from Kevin Cook for a 38-34 lead with 1:22 remaining. A critical 19-yard pass completion on 4th-and-4 and another of 12-yards on 4th-and-9, along with a costly Pride pass interference penalty at the 2, kept alive the 'Bears final possession.

Nacewicz finished the contest with a team-leading 14 tackles, while Nick Welsh had 10 of his own, including a tackle for a loss.

Springfield's Louis Fenaroli picked up 149 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown, and quarterback Jonathan Marrero finished the contest with 175 total yards of offense, including 101 yards in the air and 74 yards on the ground.

Cook finished the game with 98 yards on 28 carries and three scores for the Golden Bears, while quarterback Ward went 18-for-25 for 184 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Schumitz had seven catches for 79 yards and a pair of TDs.

The second installment of the rivalry was newly named the Pynchon SAW Game, and is derived from city founder William Pynchon and the acronym of "SAW" is for the first initial of both schools, Springfield And Western New England. Springfield won 49-40 at WNE in the final minutes last season.

With 3:36 left in the first quarter, Marrero connected with Cam Cooper from 22-yards out on a 4th-and-6 to give the Pride a 6-0 edge over the Golden Bears. Just 2:28 later, after a 62-yard drive from Western New England, Cook punched in a Golden Bear touchdown from the 1-yard line to even the score at six points apiece. At the end of the first quarter, a 52-yard rush by Fenaroli set up a 9-yard touchdown run from Franco Bianchi to give the Pride a 12-6 lead.
 
After a 20-yard connection from Tyler Ward to Nick Deternova put the Golden Bears on the goal line, the Springfield College defense held tough at the 1-yard line, with Pat Tuths and Joey Racciopi making a tackle for loss on Cook to give the Golden Bears the ball on the 5-yard line, resulting in a field goal to cut their deficit to just three.
 
With 4:39 left in the first half, Ward found senior Schumitz from the 9-yard line to give Western New England a 16-12 late in the first half.
 
Springfield fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and the Golden Bears made the most of it. Cook took the ball at the 4-yard line and crossed the goal line to give Western New England a 23-12 lead heading into the half. After taking over possession as Western New England was forced to punt out of their end zone, it only took the Pride three plays in 42 seconds for Fenaroli to break loose for a 10-yard score, bringing the score to 23-18 in favor of the Golden Bears with 8:31 to play in the third.

With just 7:02 left in the contest Marrero went up-and over the pile on the goal line to put the Pride up 24-23, and then broke free to convert the two-point conversion to give the Pride a three-point cushion.

The Pride got as close as the WNE 37 on the final drive of the game but were unable to rally for the win, letting an 11-point cushion deflate.

Defensively, Dean Soucie led the Golden Bears with 12 tackles (10 solo) while Zachary Fleming chipped in nine. Robert Sihlanick added seven tackles.

Springfield finished the night with 327 yards on the ground and outgained the Golden Bears, 428-425. Western New England owned the time of possession, 31:05-28:47 while going a perfect 5-for-5 on fourth down conversions.

Western New England will make its season debut at Golden Bear Stadium on Saturday against Westfield State (1 p.m.) for a non-conference, Mass Pike showdown, signaling its Homecoming game.

(Editor's note: The Springfield College Sports Communications Office contributed to this game recap.)