SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 9, 2016) - Junior Justin Bard (Westfield, Mass.) registered a career-high ten points, leading the Western New England University men's lacrosse team to a 19-13 non-conference victory over Trinity College in its home opener this afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.
 
Bard finished with eight goals and two assists, both career-bests, as Western New England (2-1) won its second consecutive contest. Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Rookie of the Week Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) dished out a game-high seven assists to go with one goal, while senior Taylor Dubose (Altamont, N.Y.) recorded four points (two goals, two assists) and seniors Jon Bota (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Mike Jednak (Franklin, Mass.) chipped in with three each.
 
Sophomore goalie Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) made a game-high 12 saves for the Golden Bears, stopping seven shots in the fourth quarter to help preserve the victory. Senior Henry Coote (St. David's, Pa.) and sophomore David Hamilton (Williamstown, Mass.) split time in the cage for the Bantams, but Coote took the loss after allowing 13 goals on 27 Western New England shots.
 
Junior Stefan Pappas (Millstone, N.J.) led a balanced Trinity offense with four points (one goal, three assists) as the visitors dropped to 0-2 on the season. Senior Ryan DeSimone (Saint James, N.Y.) and freshman Ben Knaus (Ross, Calif.) tallied three points each (two goals, one assist), while seniors Seth Bird (Concord, Mass.) and Michael McQuiston (Greenwich, Conn.) and sophomore John Caraviello (Wellesley, Mass.) added two goals each.
 
Western New England dominated possession in the first quarter as senior David Cedrone (Yantic, Conn.) won all nine of his faceoffs. The Golden Bears raced out to a 6-0 advantage and led 7-1 after 15 minutes behind Bard's three-goal, two-assist effort in the frame.
 
Trinity trailed by eight (10-2) with 3:45 left in the first half, but was able to cut the margin to five (10-5) early in the third quarter on Caraviello's second goal of the contest. The two teams combined for 13 total goals in the third, as Western New England maintained its five-score cushion (16-11) heading into the final period.
 
The Bantams stayed in the game by scoring the first two goals of the fourth quarter, including freshman Alex Notman's (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) first of the season at the 8:33 mark, but Kerr and the Western New England defense shut down the visitors the rest of the way to secure the triumph. Bard pushed the Golden Bears' lead back to four (17-13) just 22 second later, before Bota notched his third score of the afternoon with 4:07 left and Bard capped his career performance with another tally in the final minute.
 
Western New England held the advantage in shots on goal (27-25), ground balls (41-28) and faceoffs (20-14), going 4-for-6 in man-up opportunities.
 
The Golden Bears will be off until next week, when they head down to Florida for contests against No. 4 nationally ranked Amherst and St. Lawrence. Trinity returns to action on Saturday at Colby.