SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 12, 2016) - The No. 17 nationally ranked Western New England University men's lacrosse team kept its perfect Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) record intact with a 13-4 victory over Nichols College this evening at Golden Bear Stadium.
 
Western New England (9-3, 5-0 CCC) dominated in the first half, limiting the Bison (3-8, 0-4 CCC) to just one goal en route to a 7-1 lead at the break. Each team scored once in the third quarter, before the Golden Bears pulled away with a 5-2 edge in the fourth to secure their fifth consecutive victory.
 
Junior Justin Bard (Westfield, Mass.) led the Western New England offense with six points (three goals, three assists), and senior Jon Bota (Mahopac, N.Y.) added five (four goals, one assist) to go with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
 
Senior Mike Jednak (Franklin, Mass.) also posted a multi-point performance with one goal and two assists, while juniors Keegan Dudeck (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Frank Medlicott (Stanwood, Wash.) and sophomore Michael Wood (Southborough, Mass.) chipped in with two points each.
 
Western New England dominated at the faceoff X, as senior David Cedrone (Yantic, Conn.) and sophomore Preston Stolberg (Highland Park, Ill.) went a combined 17-for-21 (81%) against Nichols junior Kevin D'Angelo (Pelham, N.H.).
 
Defensively, senior Brian Hellrigel (Boxford, Mass.) and junior Michael Censorio (Mansfield, Mass.) caused two turnovers each, while sophomore goalie Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) made eight saves on the 12 shots he faced.
 
Senior Anthony Verville (Portland, Maine) led the Bison offensively with two goals on a team-high eight shots, and freshman Brian McKinley (Nashua, N.H.) made 23 saves in the cage for the visitors.
 
Dudeck staked the Golden Bears to a 1-0 lead with his 16^th goal of the season just 57 seconds into the contest, but Verville tied the score midway through the quarter and McKinley made several big saves in the period to keep the game tied. Western New England scored four times over the final 3:38 of the quarter, however, including three in the final minute, to open up a 5-1 lead.
 
Bota's 25^th and 26^th goals of the season, which both came late in the second quarter, increased the Golden Bears' advantage to 7-1 by halftime.
 
Nichols was still within five (8-3) following Verville's second goal of the game early in the fourth, but Western New England pulled away from there, outscoring the Bison 5-1 over the final 13 minutes of regulation.
 
Western New England held significant advantages in shots (59-27), shots on goal (36-13) and ground balls (45-24) while going 18-for-20 in clears.
 
The Golden Bears will be back in action this Saturday when they travel to Biddeford, Maine to take on the University of New England, while Nichols returns home to host Becker tomorrow night.