SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 24, 2015) - The Western New England University men's soccer team celebrated Senior Day with a 2-1 victory over Nichols College this morning in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Suprenant Field.

With the win, Western New England improves to 9-7 overall and 7-1 in league play, while Nichols drops to 7-10 and 3-5 in the CCC. The Golden Bears hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Gordon College for second place in the conference standings with one match to play in the regular season.

Seniors Chad Burke (Boxford, Mass.) and Colin Macdonald (West Newbury, Mass.) combined for the game's opening goal this morning, staking Western New England to a 1-0 lead in the 23^rd minute. Following a Nichols foul near the end line just outside the penalty area, Burke sent his free kick to the front of the net, where Macdonald was waiting to head the ball past Bison freshman goalkeeper Patrick Porpora (Westminster, Mass.).

Nichols nearly tied the match at the 24:13 mark, when junior Mike Kelley (Braintree, Mass.) fired a shot from outside the box that was redirected on its way to the goal, but Western New England junior goalkeeper Kevin Strobel (Rockland, Mass.) was able to deflect the ball up over the crossbar. The Bison would find the equalizer on the ensuing corner kick, however, as junior back Aaron Sinclair (Saco, Maine) headed home the service from classmate David Melanson (Simsbury, Conn.).

Western New England sophomore forward Troy Remillard (Palmer, Mass.) scored the goal that would stand as the game-winner in the 41^st minute, when he collected a loose ball 20 yards from the net and used a spin move to get by a Nichols defender, before sending a shot past Porpora. Remillard's goal was his team-leading tenth of the season, which is currently tied for second in the conference, while his total of four game-winning strikes leads the CCC. The sophomore has found the back of the net five times in the last four matches, including a pair of two-goal efforts.

Strobel made both of his saves in the first half, as the Western New England defense held Nichols without a shot on target over the final 45 minutes of action. The Golden Bears held a 12-11 advantage in shots overall, while both teams took three corner kicks.

Western New England will wrap up its regular season on the road at Curry College on Tuesday, before hosting a CCC Tournament Quarterfinal contest at Suprenant Field next Saturday. Nichols returns home to host Salve Regina University for its regular season finale on Tuesday.